Policymakers, telecom stakeholders and experts have opined that the existing tax structure on the telecom sector is unfair and has created an obstruction to the further expansion of digital Bangladesh.
Access to the internet should be a basic right, they say, adding that the country's tax authority should be farsighted about the impact of the tax structure on the sector, instead of earning quick revenue.
The policymakers and representatives of the telecom sector have called for identifying the issues related to the sector through consultations with the stakeholders and acting accordingly.
They made the observations at a policy dialogue on the telecom tax policy and ecosystem organised by AMTOB (Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh) and BIGF (Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum) at a hotel in the capital on Wednesday.
Posts and Telecommuni-cations Minister Mustafa Jabbar was present at the discussion as the chief guest.
Lawmaker Hasanul Haq Inu, chairperson of BIGF and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, presided over the function.
Mustafa Jabbar said, "I agree that excessive taxes have been a long-standing concern; I think we failed to convince the NBR [National Board of Revenue] about the negative impact of high taxes on the telecom sector."
The policy of NBR is to extract more revenue from those who already are paying high taxes, he said.
"The burden of high taxes on the telecom sector will ultimately harm the entire nation," he said. "We need to think about digital civilisation where rational taxation needs to be addressed."
The minister said the telecom ministry would meet the tax regulator, in order to examine all of these concerns.
Speaking on the occasion, Hasanul Haq Inu said the turnover tax imposed on harmful sectors, like the tobacco sector, was 1.0 per cent, while it was 2.0 per cent on the mobile industry.
This is ill-judged and needs to be brought down to less than 1.0 per cent, said the lawmaker.
Mr Inu stated that levies in Bangladesh's telecom industry were extremely high. "Why are they being penalised when they contribute a lot of money to the treasury?"
Reducing taxes has no negative consequences on the government because it boosts revenue indirectly, he observed.
Mr Inu added that the mobile industry's corporate tax should be decreased and made compatible with other industries.
Robi Axiata's Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer Shahed Alam, and Ericsson's Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka's Head of Network Solutions and Ericsson Bangladesh's Country Manager Abdus Salam presented two keynotes on telecom policy and telecom ecosystem, respectively.
Shahed Alam in his keynote remarked, "Comparing to our neighbouring nations, the tax on Bangladesh's mobile sector is considerably higher."
He said the operators' return on investment was insufficient.
On the one hand, the operators' average income per user is lower, while the cost of mobile voice and mobile internet is one of the lowest in the world, he said.
"We intend to offer a variety of new forms of low-cost services, taxes, on the other hand, make it harder for service providers to sustain," he added.
In another keynote, Abdus Salam said, "Network capabilities are evolving; services are being developed and adopted in our lifestyle and across the industries."
Bangladesh has a higher number of ecosystem players to coordinate and evolve together, like the regulators, MNO, NTTN, Towercos, gateway providers, academia and app development community, and many others, he said.
"Our industry cannot evolve without the involvement of a single ecosystem partner."
PTD Secretary Khalilur Rahman, who was present at the event as a special guest, said, "We have taken some steps to further grow the telecom industry."
"I am convinced that some tax needs to be rationalised; I will discuss with NBR to address tax issues that hit customers bottom of the pyramid," he said.
The telecom sector not only provides services but also contributes to the country's economic growth, said BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder.
"So, our favourable attitudes toward them will always continue."
Taimur Rahman, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer of Banglalink, said, "Telecom operators are among the major contributors to the materialisation of the Government's 'Digital Bangladesh' vision."
Grameenphone CCAO (Acting) Hossain Sadat said, "We have tried to draw our attention to policymakers to address the high tax issue."
"To achieve the goal 2041 Bangladesh, we need to immediately address taxation in the telecom sector, removing irrational tax disparity."
Brig Gen Mohammad Moniruzzaman Jewel, director general of Spectrum Division of BTRC; M Riyaaz Rasheed, acting chief executive officer and CFO of Robi; and Sumon Ahmed Sabir, chief technology officer of Fiber@Home; also spoke at the event.
AMTOB Secretary General Brig Gen SM Farhad (Retd) delivered a vote of thanks at the event.
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