THE MOBILE MONEY Agents Association of Ghana (MMAAG) has asked government to increase public sensitisation and education on the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) to reduce the high rate of panic withdrawals that have hit some mobile money (MoMo) vending outlets.
MoMo vending outlets across the country are reported to have experienced panic withdrawals from the public shortly after government announced that the tax would take effect from May 1, this year.
The reason for the panic withdrawals is attributed to the lack of proper education on which transactions the tax affects, as many MoMo subscribers erroneously fear they would lose all their monies through the tax.
This, according to some experts and stakeholders, would have dire effects on the country’s overall economy in the near future.
General Secretary of MMAAG, Evans Otumfuor, has, therefore, stressed the need for the public to be adequately informed on which particular transactions the levy would affect, urging government to spearhead the education campaign.
“Most Ghanaians are still ignorant of how the deductions will be made, and this is affecting mobile money vendors across the country. There have been a lot of panic withdrawals these past few weeks. We need more education on the tax. We are sure that when this is done, panic withdrawals will reduce,” he stated.
Mr. Otumfuor also urged his colleague agents to continue with their business with hopes that all challenges with the new tax policy would soon be resolved.
“The E-Levy has come to stay, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. We can only encourage our members to continue their business activities. We are hopeful that with time, Ghanaians will accept the tax and things will go back to normal,” he asserted.
Government commenced the implementation of the controversial levy on May 1, 2022, despite widespread condemnation of the tax policy which led to its reduction from 1.75 per cent to 1.5 per cent after several protests by sections of the public.
The E-Levy affects transfers between two different users on the same mobile network (e.g. AirtelTigo to AirtelTigo); two different users on separate mobile networks (e.g. AirtelTigo to MTN); transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts; transfers from mobile money accounts to banks; and interbank transfers using mobile applications or other digital platforms.
BY Nii Adjei Mensahfio