Ugandan telecom operators start charging social media tax on 01 July

News Broadband Uganda 2 JUL 2018
Ugandan telecom operators start charging social media tax on 01 July

Ugandan telecom operators have started applying the new government tax on social media accounts before users can access them, Reuters reported. The tax is supposed to come in with the 2018/19 (July-June) financial year and each user will pay a flat fee of UGX 200 per day. A joint statement from MTN, Airtel and Africell said that from 01 July, OTT services can be accessed upon payment of the OTT tax by the customer, via their mobile money platforms. 

The Ugandan parliament passed new laws in May that introduced the tax on the use of OTT services, including popular social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangouts, Yahoo Messenger, Instagram, YouTube and Skype. 

Critics of the new tax say it will potentially hike the cost of data in a country where per capita income stands at about USD 600. Data costs in Africa are among the world’s highest, according to digital advocacy group World Wide Web Foundation, said Reuters. Of Uganda's 41 million people, 23.6 million are mobile phone subscribers and 17 million use the internet, according to the Uganda Communications Commission.

Categories:

Internet,  Mobile

Companies:

MTN,  Africell,  Facebook,  Google,  Skype,  Twitter,  YouTube,  Airtel,  Yahoo,  Instagram,  WhatsApp

Countries:

Uganda

Tags:

Messaging, Regulations, Legislation - Lawsuits

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