If you want to remain in business, abide by our laws — Ursula Owusu-Ekuful tells telcos

The Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful says mobile telecommunications companies that want to continue operating in Ghana must be ready to comply with the country’s loss or be ready to face sanctions.

The Minister was speaking in relation to the implementation of the newly adjusted communications service tax (CST) which has left the telcos in a head-on collision with the Communications Ministry.

Telecommunication companies in their implementation of the nine percent CST are charging consumers upfront on every recharge they make. But this has not gone down well with the Communications Ministry which insists that the move is a deliberate attempt by the telcos to, among other things, shortchange consumers.

“The regulator would have a conversation with the telcos on this [referring to the implementation of the CST] and if they persist, the requisite sanctions will apply. If they want to continue doing business in this country, they will respect our laws; all of them including the multinationals.

They know better than to flout the laws of the jurisdictions in which they operate as sanctions attached to it….” the Minister said at a media engagement held at the Ministry of Information.
According to the Communications Minister, the telcos are to stop the immediate deduction of the CST and treat the tax as they would VAT, NHIL and GET Fund levies.