Govt to consider GP’s demand on spectrum tax

“New Grameenphone CEO has demanded to reduce tax and VAT for action of spectrum. We will look into the matter,” he told reporters yesterday after meeting with the Petter-B-Furberg, new CEO of the mobile phone operator. The taxes come from VAT charges of Tk100, or about $1.28, that customers pay when buying either an old or a new SIM card, though selling old cards technically became legal only in May 2015 when the telecom regulator BTRC issued guidelines for such sales. Muhith said the new CEO is also against the BTRC restrictions on sale of apps not above Tk50. “But this is not good for mobile phone operators’ business.”