Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan's telecommunication sector's three main providers on Saturday called on the government to retract from its recent decision to raise mobile phone taxes.

In a press conference held on Saturday, the major telcom companies, Zain, Orange, and Umniah, stressed the need to retract from the decision announced Thursday to increase taxes on mobile phones and mobile services, which amount to a 100 percent increase.

With the recent tax increases, the Jordanian citizen pays the highest tax on telecommunications in the world, representatives of mobile providers said.

The Jordanian government on Thursday imposed a 100 percent increase on the special tax levied on mobile phone sales and services.



According to the new decision, published in the official gazette on Thursday, the cabinet approved amendments to the 2013 telecommunications regulations, raising the taxes imposed on cell phone sales, including smart phones, from 8 percent to 16 percent.



Taxes levied on mobile services also increased 100 percent for both prepaid and postpaid services, which spiked from 12 percent to 24 percent.