By Hereward Holland, KINSHASA DR Congo
A parliamentary commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has recommended the government scrap an unpopular "phone tax", saying it has not been able to trace the funds raised so far, according to a parliamentary report seen by Reuters.
The levy, introduced by the telecoms ministry
last year, was aimed at raising funds for Congo's telecoms regulator to be able
to register mobile phones and other devices in a secured central registry.
After a hearing last week, the Congolese
parliament's budget and finance commission urged the government to "put a
definitive end to the levy... the resources of which are not traced either in
the general budget or in the special accounts," according to the report.
A government spokesman did not immediately
respond to a request for comment. It was not clear whether the government would
follow the commission's recommendation. Congo's telecoms minister has defended
the levy in the past saying it was needed to remunerate the regulator for the
secured central registry.
The government began charging $1.17 worth of
tax in six instalments for prepaid mobile 3G and 4G phones last year, and $0.17
for 2G phones, raising the ire of Congolese consumers, and protests from
opposition parties.
There are over 41 million mobile phones
connected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, government data shows.
Consumer associations and Congo's opposition
parties said the introduction of the levy, and the management of the millions
of dollars raised so far, has been opaque.
A Congo Senate commission report said in
October that 30% of the income generated by the levy would go to the private
service provider recruited to implement the technical set up of the central
registry, while 25% would go to the regulator, 40% to the government and 5% to
telecom operators.
Joel Lamika, head of a national movement of
Congolese consumers, welcomed the recommendations by the parliamentary
commission, calling the tax "a vast state swindle organised to rob an
already poor population".
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