Customers to pay more as Safaricom effects new taxes

Safaricom customers will from midnight on Wednesday pay more for calls, data and SMS services after the telco moved to implement the tax measures outlined in the Finance Act 2018.

In a statement, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore announced that the headline price for voice calls and data will increase by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cents. Currently, intra-net calls cost Ksh 4 per minute during peak hours and Ksh 2 during off peak hours.

Collymore said that while they remain committed to delivering great value to Kenyans, they have been forced to effect the price hike following the increase in Excise Duty tax applicable on Voice, SMS and Data services from 10% to 15%. This is in addition to the prevailing Value Added Tax applicable to mobile services at the rate of 16%.

“We have since then been undertaking extensive engagement with the Government on the impact, timing and exact nature of services that these taxes will affect. 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 18^th October 2018, our headline price for voice calls and data will increase by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cents,” he said.

Additionally, Safaricom has also reviewed prices for mobile data bundles, Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) and Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) to effect the new 15% Excise Duty tax on internet services.

“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 touchpoints,” said Collymore.

“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,” he added.

Other telcos are expected to follow suit. Of interest would be Airtel, which in August launched a Ksh 2 per minute tarrif across all networks.