The Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) has expressed sadness at the failure of the Network Service Providers Association of Zambia (NSPAZ) and the internet service providers (ISPs) to review the excise duty update on the cost of fixed internet services expected to increase on all internet services by 17.5% next year.
From the 1st of January 2024, the cost of fixed internet services is expected to increase on all internet services by 17.5%. The increase will be necessitated by the amendment of the Customs and Excise Duty Act which came into effect on the 1st of January this year.
Recently the Network Service Providers Association of Zambia (NSPAZ) revealed that all efforts by the association and the internet service providers (ISPs) to get the relevant authorities to review the excise duty update failed which indicates that customers will be required to pay their internet service providers an additional 17.5% excise duty on the full cost of the internet services of which the tax shall be passed to the tax authority.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZACA executive secretary Juba Sakala noted that the cost of doing business is currently high and increasing the cost of internet services will make the cost of doing business even higher because a lot of business owners depend on internet services to run their businesses.
Sakala added that increasing the cost of internet services will not only affect business owners but will also trickle down to consumers in that business owners will increase the cost of their products and services.
He noted that internet services are no longer a luxury but a necessity and therefore appealed to ZICTA to intervene by engaging network providers to bring down the cost of internet services expected to increase next year.
“That’s a sad story to hear and it’s something that in business, we even get worried about because we’ve been complaining that the cost of doing business is so high and for them to add that 17.5% means they are making the cost of doing business more expensive because a lot of people use the internet for business advertising, communication and transportation. So we expect that whatever products business owners will be accessing through the internet and bringing it to the consumers, will be more expensive than it is now,” he said.
“It’s so unfortunate that efforts have failed. It’s high time that ZICTA moved in as a regulator to intervene by possibly engaging network providers to bring down the cost of internet services which everyone needs. The internet now is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. So it will be unfortunate if the network providers seem to be unreasonable for them to look at internet services as a necessity which should be a win to win situation for consumers and network providers. Let them not hold clients at ransom because they are the providers, that’s the reason we are appealing to ZICTA to move in and sort out this issue,” said Sakala.
