The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction at the recent directive by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposing 0.005% levy on all electronic transactions.
The ATCON President, Mr Olusola Teniola, said at a media briefing in Lagos that the imposition amounted to price increase.
“ATCON is not happy with a recent directive by the CBN to all banks on the collection of 0.005% levy on all electronic transactions into a National Cyber Security Fund account within the CBN which is expected to affect some businesses.
“The businesses which are to be affected are as follows: GSM service providers and all telecommunication companies, internet service providers, banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies and Nigerian Stock Exchange.
“Electronic transaction is a new phenomenon. It is good in the country and will lead to ease of doing business, but with this levy, there will not be any ease of doing business,” he said.
Teniola said that implementation of the levy could cripple or render useless government and private sector efforts to speed up broadband penetration in Nigeria.
“The association has a mandate to protect investment in the telecom industry from undue pressure in form of an additional burden on our members already overtaxed by all tiers of government,’’ he said.
The ATCON president urged that actions capable of killing the industry should be discouraged.
“We therefore advise government to review this directive as it will affect some macro-economic elements such as loss of employment.
“We, as an industry, will have to increase prices to cover the collection and processing, and pass on this cost to the 150 million subscribers.
“ATCON believes that any actions that have the potential to destroy the telecom industry should be avoided by all tiers of government.
“The accrual benefits of imposing this levy on our members are far lower than the problem it is going to create.
“In view of this and other reasons, the association’s position is that the proposed levy of 0.005% tax should be withdrawn and its implementation seriously reviewed,” he urged.
