MTN Uganda has had one troubled year for its brand image; with the recent threats of a massive strike by customers due to poor quality network and alleged cheating of its clients through false billing and unsolicited SMS and Calls. Now two Ugandan citizens have requested court to countermand MTN Uganda’s license for allegedly altering declarations and evading tax worth billions of shillings.
According to the Daily Monitor, this case was filed before Kampala High Court, Mr Issa Ssegawa and Mr Tevin Casper Okiru said they carried out investigations at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and found out that the telecom giant has over the years been engaged in acts of tax fraud, that often resulted in payment of less tax.
A whistle-blower reported tax evasion by MTN of more than Shs13 billion to URA but the tax body did not investigate the matter. And the complainants allege that they have since discovered this fraud on October 30, 2012. The court documents further show that the whistle-blower was paid more than Shs120 million as percentage of tax recovered from the accused firm.
It’s on these grounds that the complainants want court to ask the regulator Uganda Communications Commission to annul the company’s operational license for providing telecommunication services in the country.
The Monitor further reports that court has summoned MTN Uganda Limited to respond to the case within 15 days. According to MTN’s General Manager for Corporate Services Anthony Katamba, the case does not have merit since tax collection is a preserve of the government through URA he said
“I don’t understand what they (complainants) are talking about. It is a deliberate campaign by some individuals to undermine the integrity of the company but we shall address the issues before court,”
Source: Monitor
