Jordan operators face tax to support struggling farmers

Telecoms operators in Jordan have become victims of their own success, after the country’s parliament endorsed a tax on phone calls to support the ailing farming sector.

Jordanian consumers are likely to bear the cost of the proposed tax on phone calls to subsidise livestock farmers’ access to low interest loans.

The 2008 Livestock Protection Fund draft law proposes each minute of a landline or mobile phone call incur a one-fil (US$0.001) tax.

Operators and economists are condemning the decision as “illogical” and “irrational”, resulting in a vibrant sector subsidising farmers’ access to low interest loans.

If implemented, the tax would negatively impact operators’ profitability, with the charge likely to be passed onto consumers.

Zain’s general manager Ahmad Al Shatti told local press that taxes already comprise 20.5 per cent of subscribers’ bills, in addition to an annual JD1 university tax.

A spokesperson at Umniah stated that adding another tax could inhibit investment in Jordan’s telecoms sector and affect its contribution to the national economy. Integrated operator Orange Jordan said the proposed tax was “unjust”.