Mobile phone usage to get costlier

Mobile phone users are going to face higher bills for usage as supplementary duty proposed to make double as 10 per cent from its existing 5 per cent in the proposed budget.

With this new tax ratio customers will have to pay 27.77 taxes of the services provided through mobile phones.

At present, mobile phone users have to bear 15 per cent VAT, 5 per cent supplementary duty and 1 percent surcharge on their bill for phone calls, internet and others usage. And now the rate of supplementary duty is going up to 10 per cent, according to the budget speech.

Finance minister also proposed to raise the minimum tax for mobile companies to two per cent of their turnover from 0.75 per cent.