People may have to spend more for purchasing mobile phone connections or subscriber identity module (SIM) and eSIM from the next fiscal year as the government plans to increase supplementary duty on SIMs to 20% along with raising the value-added tax (VAT) to Tk300 for every eSIM.
At present, SIM cards have 15% supplementary duty and the VAT on every eSIM is Tk200.
Bangladesh has 193.7 million active mobile phone connections as of April this year, according to data of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali presented the proposed budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year amounting to Tk797,000 crore (Tk7.97 trillion) in parliament on Thursday.
This was his first budget unveiling and the first budget after the reelection of the Awami League government in January.