E-Levy: Telcos to cut charges on MoMo transactions by 25%
The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has announced a 25 percent reduction in charges on mobile money transactions by the various telecommunication companies in the country.
The reduction in charges is amid the introduction of the E-Levy by government.
According to the Chamber, the decision was taken following extensive deliberations with government on the need to lessen the impact of the new tax on consumers.
“We acknowledge the need to expand the tax base. However, to reduce the overall impact of the new levy on consumers, MTN and AirtelTigo have agreed to a downward revision of their P2P (person to person transfer) fees by up to 25% depending on the respective operator. Vodafone currently has no charges,” said the Chamber in a press release.
Adding that, each mobile money operator would notify their customers of the applicable revised rate when the E-levy bill is passed into law.
The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, in the press statement, noted that the companies are ready to provide customers assistance during the implementation of the e-levy.
“We pledge our continued support to our customers and would continue to deliver innovative products and service that would ensure the convenience of the digital financial platforms and support the national digital transformation effort,” it read further.
Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, on Thursday, December 16, revealed that the government has been engaging the telecommunications companies to reduce their charges on electronic transactions.
He explained that the reduction in the mobile money charges would aid government maintain the 1.75% levy and reduce the impact of the tax on the ordinary Ghanaian.
Thus, to ensure Ghanaians are not burdened with the tax, the government has been exploring ways to reduce the cumulative effect, he noted.
“The government has been engaging with the Telcos. So if the telcos reduce their 2% and even if the government stays at 1.75% that means the state is assured of the revenues of the 1.75% and the net effect on the Ghanaian will still be low,” he remarked.
E-Levy not to affect payment of taxes, fees and charges on Ghana.gov platform
Meanwhile, payment of taxes, fees and charges on the Ghana.gov platform according to the Finance Ministry, will not be affected by the electronic transaction levy (E-Levy).
This is per the information contained in the E-Levy Bill laid before Parliament by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Ghana.gov platform is the single online portal for the public to access and pay for all government services digitally – From Passport Office, Ghana Revenue Authority Ghana Immigration Service, Births and Deaths, the various MDAs and MMDAs as well the police, justice system, health and many more.
Also excluded from the 1.75% charge rate of the E-Levy is specified merchant payments and transfers between principal, agent and master-agent accounts.
As explained in the E-Levy Bill laid before Parliament, ‘agent’ means a person who provides agency services to customers on behalf of a principal, under an agency agreement.
Whereas, ‘master-agent’ refers to a legal person who has an agreement with a principal to contact and manage agents that provide banking and electronic money services or payment services to customers on behalf of the principal.
Principal, as defined by the Bill, refers to a bank or specialized deposit-taking institution, payment service provider, or electronic money issuer whose services are conducted through an agent.
As already stated by the Finance Minister, a cumulative transfer of GHS 100 a day made by the same person or individual as well as transfers between accounts owned by the same individual are exempt from the charge rate of the E-Levy.
Read details of press release:
3.4 Media Release – E-Levy by Fuaad Dodoo on Scribd
