Finance Act 2023: Safaricom increases M-Pesa charges, cuts call, SMS rates
This means that mobile money transfer charges are going up while charges on call, data and SMS charges are going down.
Safaricom has adjusted M-Pesa, call, data, SMS and home fibre charges to align with the revised excise duty in the Finance Act 2023.
The Act has revised the excise duty on mobile money transfer services upwards to 15 per cent from 12 per cent while the excise duty on telecommunication services was revised downwards to 15 per cent from 20 per cent.
This means that mobile money transfer charges are going up while charges on call, data and SMS charges are going down.
On Friday, the Court of Appeal has overturned an order made last month suspending the implementation of the 2023 Finance Act after Treasury CS Prof Njuguna Ndung'u argued that the government was losing half a billion shillings a day as a result of the freeze.
A three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal lifted the suspension placed on 30 June, pending the determination of an appeal filed by Prof Ndung'u.
The CS moved to the Court of Appeal through Attorney-General Justin Muturi, arguing that the government would lose about Sh211 billion in the current financial year.
