Safaricom Prices: Leading telecommunications firm, Safaricom, has mildly increased the prices of its call and data services. According to CEO Bob Collymore, the increase has been caused by the implementation of the controversial taxes that were pushed by the government last month.
“Therefore, as a result of the increased taxes passed in the Finance Act 2018, we wish to notify our customers that from midnight tonight, the 18th October 2018, our headline price for voice calls and data will increase by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cents,” Collymore said in a statement.
He said the company has also reviewed prices for mobile data bundles, Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) and Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) to effect the new 15 per cent Excise Duty tax on internet services. The excise duty applicable on voice, SMS and data was increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, in addition to the prevailing 16 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on mobile service.
“The full tariff guide has been filed with Communications Authority of Kenya as required by law and is available from our website, USSD, and all our customer touch points,” Collymore said.
“We are aware of and regret the impact these additional taxes on our customers. It is our sincere hope that these changes will not affect the remarkable gains we have made in mobile phone and internet penetration in Kenya over the last two decades.”
The move comes after Zuku and JTL issued notices to customers notifying them of the new rates. “Dear client. Following publication of Finance Act 2018 on 21-Sep-18; 15 per cent Excise Duty has been introduced on Internet data. Please note we have effected the same…” read a notice by Zuku to its clients.