Cable TV services provider, DSTV, has announced an upward adjustment in price effective November 1, 2019, for all its subscription packages following the increase in the communication service tax (CST) by the government of Ghana.
A note beamed from DSTV via its decoders announced an extra 5-cedi increase to subscribers. Subscribers of Premium package can expect to pay ¢340 from ¢335 cedis.
Subscribers of Compact will pay ¢140 from ¢135 while a Family package is ¢75 from ¢70. There is no price change for Access subscribers, the company explained.
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The Communication Service Tax which was introduced in 2008 was pegged at a rate of 6 percent payable by consumers of certain electronic communication services — but the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta in his mid-year budget announced a 50 percent increment in the CST rate.
According to the Minister, increasing the rate to 9 percent would allow the government to have access to funds to battle the incidence of cybercrime as well as provide a robust eco-system where users of electronic communications services feel much safe.
The increment has triggered a fight between the telcos and the Communications ministry after they also announced an upfront deduction of the tax from consumers.
While the telcos have had several disagreements over the implementation of the CST, DSTV in a notice to its subcribers said: “Due to the increase in CST, be advised of a subscription price adjustment on your package from November 1, 2019.”
