Tigo refutes allegations of revenue under-declaration

Telecoms operator, Tigo has described as false, malicious and irresponsible,  recent media reports that it under-declared revenue and also prevented Subah Info Solutions to connect and monitor revenue on behalf of the regulator, the National Communications Authority, NCA. 

According to the telco, it had between January 1, 2008 to October June 30, 2011 paid to the NCA, a total of GHC7,778,812.01 in regulatory fees – representing 1% of its net revenue.  This it says was after the NCA in February 2013 commissioned a revenue assurance audit into its operations for the three-year period.

The auditors, it says also concluded that Tigo applied the regulatory fee computations correctly, namely netting off the proper costs directly related to interconnect fees from its gross operating revenue and applying the obligatory one percent (1%) NCA levy to the resultant amount.

In a statement, the mobile operator also said the auditors also found that revenue recognition practices for advance billings, maintenance/software/service fees, and multi-month contracts were correct. Revenue analysis and recording of revenue by type, source, method of payment, and product line were also correct.

“Tigo's only liability resulted from the auditor's re-calculations and the treatment of adjustments passed in our financials and reconciliations. However this was of no material significance and has since been settled in full to the NCA, (GH₵ 208,495 (approx. $90,000) in regulatory fees and $50,000 on International Incoming Traffic. This represents less than 5% of total fees paid to the NCA. At no point has Tigo evaded taxes or under declared revenues. We therefore take very strong exception to such generalized allegations being made in the media” the statement added.

The company also dismissed reports that it is putting impediments in the way of Subah Info Solutions to connect and access its revenue data. The statement explained Subah Info Solutions has since March 2014 had their server in Tigo's Data Centre with access to all revenue information including  sales and recharge report, interconnect and roaming data and other financial reconciliations. 

“We wish to emphasise that Tigo remains committed to good corporate citizenship with strong ethical values. We operate in full transparency and compliance with the industry regulator and the Government of Ghana.  We have over the years honoured all our tax and regulatory fee obligations. In 2014 alone, Tigo paid 107, 425,039 in taxes. This included the Communication Service Tax (CST), VAT, Withholding Tax, Import Duties and the one percent regulatory fees to the NCA” the statement added.   

Tigo was the first Mobile Network Operator to launch in Ghana in 1992 and we have since trained hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians for the telecom industry and other sectors. We offer direct employment to 450 Ghanaians and indirectly engage 400 others including dealers, retailers, vendors and suppliers. We contribute significantly towards the development of the country by undertaking various Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and remain one of the biggest sources of revenue for the media and entertainment industry” the statement concluded.