Ghanaians to hold nationwide demo against increased data charges by Telcos

Some Ghanaians will in the coming days hit the streets across the country to protest the increased data charges by the Telecommunication companies.

Telecommunication companies on Tuesday, November 26, 2019, stopped the upfront deduction of the Communication Service Tax (CST).

In a statement, the Telecommunications Chamber said it will complete the reconfiguration of its systems to accommodate the commercial and technical requirements for the cessation of the deduction next week to bring respite to consumers.

Chief Executive of the Chamber Ken Ashigbey in a radio interview said the CST will be embedded in the tariffs.

“…Due to finish this work by Tuesday the 26 of November, we are hoping that we will complete the configuration, and we can migrate from the upfront deduction to taxing it through the tariff, what it will mean is that now the 9% CST will be embedded within the tariffs so if they are products selling at 1gh the effect of the tariff will be like 7% so that 7% will be added to the original cost of the product so that it will be the cost of the service plus the taxes.”

Protest

After the upfront deduction was halted, most of the Telecommunication companies have now increased their data charges. This action did not go down well with most of the customers.

Some of the customers have launched the #SaveOurData campaign on social media. Lead campaigner, Saddick Adams on twitter said, “We have formally requested for Police Permit for the #SaveOurData walk. Dates and details will be rolled out once the request is granted We are not only walking in Accra but nationwide. Everyone uses data. Data prices in Ghana is expensive. Let’s fight it. #SaveOurData.”