Ugandans to start accessing the internet minus paying Ott

Ugandans are finally set to start accessing social media sites minus having to pay the Over The Top (OTT) tax.

The tax that was introduced in 2018 amidst heavy criticisms and rejection by Ugandans was abolished in the new financial year.

Ott was introduced to supplement the domestic government budget. Ugandans were required to pay a daily fee of 200 shillings inorder to access all social media sites.

This forced majority of them to forego these sites and others resorted to using Virtual Protection Networks (VPN).

However, in the financial year of 2021/22, government instead introduced a 12% fee on all internet bundles hence scrapping the Ott off.

The infamous tax even got former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu who was the MP for Kyadondo east then and other people against the tax on the streets of Kampala protesting about the tax.

These were teargassed, jailed and even had to appear in court.

Despite, the resentment at first, Ugandans gradually accepted the tax and started paying it although some resorted to VPNs.

Government cited the use of VPNs as one of the reasons this tax failed to achieve the desired effect hence calling it off.

Related posts

Leave a Comment