Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) said there is a wide gap between the government’s smart Bangladesh vision and the National Board of Revenue’s tax policy on mobile phone usage.

It said the increased tax on mobile phone usage may hinder implementation of the smart Bangladesh vision.

“We know that the State Minister for Telecommunication (Zunaid Ahmed Palak) promotes the smart Bangladesh vision through enhancing internet connectivity. But the NBR imposes tax on (tools needed for) the government’s vision. We think there is a gap between the ministry and the revenue authority,” said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer of Robi Axiata.

He was speaking at a press conference organised by AMTOB at its office in Banani, Dhaka on Wednesday.

Shahed Alam said that out of the 180 million population, 100 million mobile phone users are connected to the internet.

“Around 80 million people remain out of connectivity. This could be an opportunity to connect them for the country’s telecom growth. At this stage, increased tax may hinder this growth,” he said.

Taimur Rahman, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer at Banglalink, tried to show that the mobile phone operators can offer the services worth Tk71.5 for Tk100 recharge due to value added tax (VAT) and supplementary duty (SD) on customers’ end.

Expressing dismay over the proposed budget, AMTOB secretary general Mohammad Zulfikar said that the supplementary duty hike by five percentage points on mobile recharge is expected to generate about Tk1.5 billion in revenue for the government.

“This revenue could be achieved by increasing data usage instead of raising levies. The mobile operator hardly makes Tk2 from Tk100 recharge,” he said.

Hans Martin Henrichsen, chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, was also present on the occasion.

The imposition of an additional 5 percent SD on mobile service usage and a Tk100 increase in VAT on SIM connections is expected to negatively impact mobile consumers and the telecommunications industry.

Higher service prices have led customers to reduce their mobile phone usage, resulting in lower revenue collection and decreased contributions to the government treasury, the industry people said.