The Alliance For Social Equity And Public Accountability (ASEPA) expressed disappoint on  telecommunication chamber  for failing to hold on to it's upfront deduction method, blasting the telecos for "giving in to pressure" from Government.

ASEPA believes the upfront charges allowed to be in the know of how much they were being charged on the Communication Service Tax (CST) the Government introduced .

It comes after the telecos announced the withdrawal of the upfront charges by the order of the ministry of communication, a move ASEPA says betrays transparency.

In a statement, ASEPA called on consumers to reject the move by the telecos to replace the upfront charges with the price absorption module

"We believe this would not be in the best interest of consumers because as consumers we expect some level of transparency in the charges for using telecommunications services, just like we get an update on the price components of every item we purchase on the receipt," the statement read.

"For purposes of transparency and accountability we shall rally consumers to reject this and other approaches that is not transparent and do not give the consumer a comprehensive breakdown of his charges including the CST."

Read full statement below

Immediate Release

*ASEPA KICKS AGAINST NEW CST IMPLEMENTATION BY TELCOS- CHARGES TELCOS TO ADOPT TRANSPARENT METHODS IN THEIR DEDUCTIONS AND CHARGES*

ASEPA has sighted Press Statement from the Ghana Telecommunications Chamber seeking to withdraw the current upfront deduction of the CST and replacing it with a price increase to pass on the tax.

First of all we are disappointed that the Chamber has given in to government's pressure to hide the new increment in CST.
We believe this would not be in the best interest of consumers because as consumers we expect some level of transparency in the charges for using telecommunications services, just like we get an update on the price components of every item we purchase on the receipt.

For purposes of transparency and accountability we shall rally consumers to reject this and other approaches that is not transparent and do not give the consumer a comprehensive breakdown of his charges including the CST.

Already consumers have made serious complains about how their credit of data purchased disappears or gets exhausted under strange circumstances, now allowing telcos to hide the CST and absorb through their charges can aid the Telcos in cheating consumers without their knowledge.

This is only a victory for government but the poor consumer is the one who would suffer greater consequences.

We therefore urge the Telcos to find other transparent means of implementing the CST increment that keeps the cusumer on the know instead of the price absorption module as put out by the Telcos Chamber.

Signed:
Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA
0542120628

Cc.
Ghana Telecommunications Chamber
The Minister for Communications
Consumer Protection Agency
All Media Houses