Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, in his budget presented in Parliament on Thursday, suggested an increase from the present 3 percent to 5 percent.

The operators began charging the new tariff from Friday morning after informing the subscribers through text messages.

They said they switched to the new tariff plan after getting a statutory regulatory order (SRO) from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The operators said the NBR issued the SRO after the finance minister proposed the hike in supplementary duty in the new budget.

Robi, in an SMS to its subscribers, said an increase of the supplementary duty to 5 percent was being reflected in their tariff.

An official of the operator said a subscriber getting this message meant his or her inclusion in the new tariff plan

Grameenphone’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Mahmud Hossain told bdnews24.com they, too, had started bringing their subscribers under the new tariff plan following the announcement of the budget proposal.

Robi’s Communications and Corporation Responsibility Vice President Ekram Kabir said they began process from Thursday midnight.

Finance Minister Muhith on Thursday presented his budget proposal of Tk 3.41 trillion.

He told the House that taxes on SIM cards had been ‘significantly’ reduced in the current FY 2015-16 budget, resulting in a drop in revenue from the telecom sector.

“In order to enhance revenue collection from this sector, I am proposing to increase the rate of supplementary duty on SIM card related services from 3 percent to 5 percent.”

The tax for new mobile phone subscriptions was down to Tk 100 from Tk 300 in the last budget.

The highest current call rate is Tk 2 per minute but a caller pays Tk 2.39 after 15 percent VAT and 1 percent surcharge on top of 3 percent supplementary duty.

The price will stand at Tk 2.44 if supplementary duty is raised to 5 percent.

Mobile phone operators say the proposed duty will impede the sector’s growth if implemented.

An official of one of the operators told bdnews24.com that raising the supplementary duty on SIM usage (voice calls, SMS and internet data) would add to the financial burden of mobile users.

Robi’s Ekram Kabir said a duty hike would also reduce revenue earnings from data usage and voice calls.

After the deadline for biometric registration expired on May 31 midnight, Bangladesh’s six operators currently have over 108.1 million active SIMs.

According to telecom regulator BTRC, the number of mobile internet users in Bangladesh was over 58.66 million at the end of April.