Hundreds of crores taka surcharge lie idle

The government slapped a levy of 1 percent surcharge on the sale of mobile phones and another 1 percent surcharge on the use of mobile phones last year. The proceeds from these surcharges were supposed to be spent on health and educational purposes. And as of April this year, the treasury had collected Tk. 240 crore from these two levies. Consumers have been taxed with a surcharge on new phones that have pushed up prices which, again, hurt would-be cell phone owners. Similarly, a 1 percent surcharge has been applied for nearly three years on tobacco products on the government's intent for the purpose of spending the proceeds for 'treatment and rehabilitation of tobacco-stricken diseases'. The levy was first slapped onto consumers during fiscal 2014-2015 and more than Tk. 600 have been collected thus far but not one paisa has been spent on health services! 

We are informed that the 'Health Development Surcharge Management Policy' is still in the draft phase. So our questions to the authorities are: why were these levies charged in the absence of any policy framework in the first place? Why is it that the National Board of Revenue only got down to drafting the policy a full year after the levies had already been in place, and what is now holding up its introduction so that these unspent monies can be put to use? Such lax attitudes are not helping the millions of consumers, particularly the mobile phone subscribers who have seen getting less value for their money as they top-up their phones.  

The nearly Tk. 900 crore lying idle presently would go a long way in combating non-communicable diseases and control tobacco usage; and we hope something is done to expedite the release of funds so that the concerned ministry can make good use of the money for improving public health.