Safaricom increases cost for voice calls and data by 30 cents, SMS 10 cents

Safaricom has increased the cost for voice calls and data by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cent as a result of the increased taxes passed in the Finance Act 2018, particularly the Excise Duty tax applicable on Voice, SMS and Data services was increased from 10% to 15%.
This is in addition to the prevailing Value Added Tax applicable to mobile services at the rate of 16%.
Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO in a statement said, “Therefore, as a result of the increased taxes passed in the Finance Act 2018, we wish to notify our customers that from midnight tonight, the 18th October 2018, our headline price for voice calls and data will increase by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cents.
Additionally, we have also reviewed our prices for mobile data bundles, Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) and Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) to effect the new 15% Excise Duty tax on internet services.”
Collymore said Safaricom has been undertaking extensive engagement with the Government on the impact, timing and exact nature of services that these taxes will affect.
Safaricom joins Zuku and Jamii Telecommunications (JTL) in effecting the price increase on their data and call products.