Following the government’s move to increase excise duty on airtime and telephone services from 15 percent to 20 percent, telecommunication companies have reviewed their terms to reflect the changes.
The new changes in the Finance Bill 2021 signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta took effect on July 1 this year.
The new Safaricom changes will take effect beginning July 7, this year.
According to the service provider, all out-of-bundle voice calls, SMS, and all-in-one will be revised to reflect the excise duty.
All consumer data bundle prices remain unchanged. They include daily bundles, no expiry bundles, weekly bundles, and monthly bundles.
The roaming and the international calling and SMS have been reviewed to reflect the 20 percent excise duty.
The cost of all fibre for both homes and business plans have also been revised in line with the excise duty.
All personal postpaid prices including all corporate postpaid products and services have also been revised to meet the new regulations.
The new rates will only apply when a customer runs out of bundle and continues to use the airtime out of bundle. This is meant to result in the least inconvenience to customers.
It is not the first time the government has imposed such duties on the services. In 2018, the government increased the excise duty from 10 percent to 15 percent on telephone and internet services in the Finance Act 2018.
Telecommunication and internet providers increased the cost of the services to include the taxes. Telcos raised the cost of calls by 30 cents, and SMS by 10 cents. Internet and home fibre services were also increased.
