Mobile Money Agents Association have threatened to withdraw their services should Government fails to heed to their call to drop the ‘controversial’ E-Levy bill currently in Parliament.
According to the association, the 1.75% proposed by the government to be taxed on the electronic transactions is very heinous and cannot be countenanced by their customers and the mobile money agents.
His comments comes days after the association issued a press statement dated, 19th December, 2021 to officially notify the General public that, as part of their actions to exercise their concerns on the controversial Electronic Transaction Bill by the government, it will embark on an industrial strike on Thursday, December, 23, 2021.
In a landslide interview with Kwame Koranteng on Anɔpa Dawuro on Republic FM, the Association’s chairman, Nana Kofi Boateng, the 1.75% imposed will not borne by the agents but rather, the customer and if such moves are pulled through by the government in addition to the existing 50%, it will demotivate people from withdraw their services .
“What we’re saying is that, if government does not listen to us, the 1.75% imposed will not encourage customers to continue to use the Momo transaction. You know already, we have 50% existing tax on the MOMO, how do you expect customers to bear such costs”?. He quizzed Kwame Koranteng.
According to him, the operators are paid through the customers by patronizing their services and if the charges are high and a customer chooses not to transact on the Momo, the agent will at the end lose because most of them are operating with banking loans.
Nana Kofi Boateng further stressed that, the association is calling for a total reversal and do not want to negotiate with the government on anything.
“We want a total reversal of the 1.75% proposed Levy and we will not negotiate on anything. We want it abolish completely because it will collapse our business”.
The chairman also revealed that, as an association who is also a stakeholder in the business, government has failed to Include them since it says it’s having series of engagement to address the issues.
Responding to questions if the association is aware the government has directed the telecommunication networks to reduce its already existing 50% charges by 25%, Nana Kofi Boateng maintained that, that’s where the agents will be affected the most because, their operations and commissions are basis and if the government wants the telcos to reduce the downward review by 25%, the telcos has not reduced it, but rather, government’s charges will be added to the remaining 25% which was not reduced and it will discourage their cash out and cash in commissions.