This is the DFSO News Section, covering recent Digital Financial Services news and relevant topics.
The Central Bank of Kenya released data in July which indicated that Kenyans spent in excess of 960 billion Kenyan Shillings on sports betting during the first quarter of 2018.
The minister for Information and Communications Technology in Uganda informed Parliament that customers who own unused airtime scratch cards will be entitled to have the value converted to mobile money.
Mobile network operator (MNO), Airtel, has been reported to have begun providing full 1% refunds on mobile money taxes paid by subscribers in Uganda which was originally collected pursuant to the country's parliament passing of a controversial 1% mobile money tax which was allegedly originally intended to be set at 0.05% and faced substantial opposition in its entirety.
In response to the passage two new taxes on "over the top" (OTT) and mobile money which took effect on July 1, Whitehead Communications conducted a comprehensive survey between July 13 and 16 to obtain research on public opnion and the perceived impact of these taxes.
In the latest iteration of mobile financial services (MFS) regulation, The Daily Star reported that the Bangladesh Bank has frozen out telecom operators from operating as or having an ownership in an MFS provider.
In a Facebook post, President Museveny conceded that he signed the bill setting forth an erroneous 1% mobile money tax instead of the agreed upon 0.5% rate on deposits because "we could not delay other measures." Museveny declared that impacted parties who paid the 1% tax should be reimbursed, although no details were provided.
Bharti Airtel announced that it is making a substantial investment in rolling out its pre-5G 'Massive MIMO' mobile technology in Kolkata and other key areas in the Indian state of West Bengal. The Massive MIMO technology is touted by Airtel as being capable of 'expanding network capacity 5-7 times over the same spectrum' and will begin implementation in major business and select residential areas in the city. The company also expects this effort to pave the way for a significant increase in the amount of smartphone usage.
The Uganda police fired live ammunition and tear gas into the air in an attempt to break up a demonstration in the country's capital of Kampala in protest of the country's new imposition of taxes on mobile money transfers and Over The Top (OTT) applications usage which targets social media apps.
Samsung's newly expanded smartphone manufacturing plant in India, designed to double output to 120 million phones annually by 2020, was formally opened by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Members of the Uganda parliament are meeting on Wednesday, July 10, to discuss the issue of a recently imposed excise duties of 200 shillings (0.05 USD) on "Over The Top" (OTT) use (which impacts upon the frequent use of social media apps) and 1% on mobile money transactions. Discussions will include President Museveny's recent declaration of an error in the amount of the mobile money tax, which should have been 0.5%, as well as the imposition of the tax in its entirety.
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