Telecomms Subscribers Beg Govt. To Stop Multiple Taxes

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Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, President, National Association of Telecommunication Subscribers (NATCOMS), has called on the three tiers of government to stop imposition of multiple taxes and levies on the operators.

Ogunbanjo made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

He said that there had been rampant cases of multiple taxes being imposed on the operators by the tax agents of the local, state and federal governments.

The president of the association said that various government agents had been extorting telecommunication companies.

He said that multiple taxes were one of the reasons why tariff had not been reduced in line with the consumers’ demand.

Ogunbanjo said that the non-payment of the multiple taxes had led to the closure of the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) sites of many service providers.

He said that the closure of BTS had affected the daily running of the operators’ businesses and impacted negatively on the services rendered.

“Looking at the multiple taxation holistically, it is actually an impediment to good quality service.

“If the issue of multiple taxation is addressed, there will be no closure of base stations when an operator is unable to pay any of those multiple taxes,” he said.

Ogunbanjo commended the Nigerian Communications Commission for setting up the Industry Working Group (IWG) on Multiple Taxation.

He called on the group to liaise with the agencies concern to address the issue.

The NATCOMS chief also called on the government to see the telecommunication base stations as critical national infrastructure that should be protected by law.

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