*Introduced series of reforms in the sector, the NCC boss says

Dr. Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive (EVC/CEO), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has removed the five percent excise duty on telecommunications services.Speaking with media executives in Abuja on Tuesday, Maida said the levy, which had been temporarily suspended, has now been scrapped under the new tax law.He also stated that part of the attempts to improve telephone and data access, led to the implementation of flexible licencing policies.He also said that the commission has introduced unified billing methods and had asked all telecom companies to clearly inform their customers what their charges per service, among others. “The excise duty, it was the 5 per cent or so, is no longer there.“Before it was suspended, but now the president has been magnanimous to remove it entirely. “I was in a room when it was raised, and he said, no, we cannot put this on Nigerians. I was very pleased when the bills came out and we saw his words were followed through,” he stated.On July 6, 2023, Tinubu signed four Executive Orders, including the suspension of the 5 per cent Excise Duty on telecommunication services to ameliorate the negative impact of tax adjustments on businesses and households.However, the National Assembly, on October 20, 2024, proposed the reintroduction of the excise duty on telecommunications services, gaming, betting, and lottery activities.The proposal was rejected by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), which said it would be unfair for the government to impose an excise duty when it is striving to sustain operations.Maida also spoke on other issues, including government efforts to improve the quality of telephone services through encouraging the telecommunications companies to lay optical cables, efforts to reduce vandalism of cable lines, efforts to stop vandalism and access to telecommunications masts and other facilities, including imposing fair tariff on customers.He also said the NCC would be reviewing both policies and operational guidelines from time to time, to bring it in sync with global best practices, saying what the commission implemented so far has improved the sector considerably.