MTN Ghana and AirtelTigo have decided to reduce the person to person mobile money transfers by 25% percent as their way of supporting consumers shoulder the upcoming electronic transfer levy (E-Levy).
“…to reduce the overall impact of the new levy on consumers, MTN and AirtelTigo have agreed to downward revision of their P2P (person to person) transfer fees by up to 25% depending on respective operator. Vodafone currently has no charges,” a statement from the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications said.
A statement from the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications said the reduction will take effect from when the E-Levy Bill is passed into law, bringing the 1.75% consumer tax on electronic transfers into force.
It added that each operator would notify their customers of the applicable revised rate when the e-levy bill is passed into law.
This means from the time E-levy takes effect, MTN and AirtelTigo charges on person to person transfers will be reduced from 1% of the amount transferred to 0.75% of same.
Vodafone Ghana has already zero rated all money transfers on Vodafone Cash, and from Vodafone Cash to all other networks. It has maintained the free transfer policy for more than year now.
The Telecoms Chamber said even though industry players acknowledge the need for the tax net to be expanded, they have also had extensive deliberation with government on the need to lessen the impact on our consumers, hence the reduction in transfer fees.
“Our customers service centers would be ready to provide to 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,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, per the E-Levy Bill yet to be passed, only four items are exempted – transfers of up to GHS100 per day, transfers between accounts belonging to same taxpayer, transfers between merchants and transfer for the payments of taxes, charges and fees on Ghana.gov.
