API, Security architecture not available to EMIs, Sam George
The Ningo-Prampram MP, Sam Nartey George, has described as false the readiness of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to implement the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) despite the Authority’s saying otherwise.
He stated that processes to facilitate the implementation of the E-Levy have not been completed as the May 1 date approaches.
Meanwhile the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Rev Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah announced that the Authority is ready to implement the tax.
According to Sam George, the Application Programming Interface (API) and the security architecture have not yet been made available to the telecommunications companies (Telcos).
“I can speak on authority that as at close of day as late as 11 pm last night (Wednesday), when the Commissioner-General for the GRA says all the APIs have been given to all Electronic Money Issuers (EMI) is incorrect. At least two APIs are still outstanding,” he said.
“Critical amongst the two is the reversal API. The GRA at the last technical meeting admitted that because all the robustness tests have not been done for the system, there’s a possibility of downtimes where when you place a call to the API to do all the checks before a tax is applied or not applied, and it’s possible that you will not get the checks done in real-time.”
The GRA has decided that when such a situation arises “go ahead and apply the tax, even though that transaction is exempt, and then subsequently when the system comes back online, we would do a reconciliation and then do the reversal of the 1.5 that was charged.”
The Ningo Prampram MP however noted that if situations like this occur there may be confusion at various mobile money vending joints.
“The communication has gone out there that these categories of persons are exempt [and] with instances like this, momo agents will be attacked because consumers will accuse them of trying to steal their 1.5 of the money sent. So you’re exposing the momo agent to possible agent because of a lack of proper communication,” he said.
“You have not given any timeline for this reconciliation. So no one knows when the reversal will be done. And critical amongst all is that the APIs that will allow the EMIs and the PSPs to do the reversal have not been given to them. This indicates that the government is not ready to do any reversal for wrong transactions,” he said.
Sam George is MP for Ningo Prampram