Safaricom Increases Voice, SMS and Data Prices

Safaricom has announced a price increase of all their products due to the new taxes imposed by the Finance Act 2018. The Finance act has also led to the increase in prices of various other services and products.

The Finance Act increased Excise Duty tax on Calls, SMS and Internet from 10% to 15%. Also, a 15% Excise Duty tax on internet services was introduced.

As a result, the price for calls and mobile Internet will increase by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cents effective 18th October 2018. The company has also announced that the Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) and Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) price will also increase significantly.

Safaricom increased M-Pesa charges citing an increase in taxes brought about the Finance Bill 2018 in July this year. The proposed 15% tax was later dropped to 12% when the bill was passed.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has filed a lawsuit against the AG, Speaker of the National Assembly and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) over the introduction of the 15% excise duty on internet services. They want the implementation of the new tax stopped, and they want it declared unconstitutional.