The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has slammed the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Ato Forson, for questioning her order to telcos to cease the upfront deductions of the Communications Service Tax (CST).
After the directive to the telcos last week, Mr. Forson wrote to the Ministry requesting the withdrawal of the order he described as illegal.
But in a strongly worded letter of her own, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said Mr. Forson was in no position to give her direction on her duties.
“Your remedy does not lie in issuing orders and instructions to me on how to do my work. As the adage goes, if I want lessons in good morals, I certainly will not go to a brothel for it,” the Minister said.
The minister also insisted that she had the necessary backing of the law to issue such a directive.
“I hold a contrary opinion fortified in the fact that the Electronic Communications Act which provides the legal basis for all Mobile Network Operators to work in this country also gives the Minister for Communications the right to issue policy directives to the regulator in the management of the sector.”
She added that the Ministry was only insisting that customers be “treated respectfully and in a non-discriminatory manner which also provides value for their money.”
The telcos were deducting the CST instantly from customers after the purchase of credit and data.
The CST, which is now 9 percent, was being applied to any recharge purchase.
For every GHc1 of recharge purchased, the CST tax was charged upfront leaving GHc0.91 for purchase of products and services.
The instant deductions prompted the directive from the minister.
Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah had earlier complained that the upfront CST deductions was making government unpopular and chided the telcos for such action.
The Communications Ministry in its directive said the CST should be treated the same way as VAT, NHIL and other levies are treated.
The CST is a usage tax based on law that was first implemented in 2008.
Following fiscal policy proposals in the Mid-Year Budget Review for 2019, the Government passed laws to increase the rate of CST from 6 percent to 9 percent.
