Special Telephone Call (STC) Tax - Digicel Jamaica

Special Telephone Call (STC) TaxFrequently Asked QuestionsEffective July 15, 2012, the Government of Jamaica imposed a Special Telephone Call Tax on all minutes.As a result all calls made from your Digicel mobile will attract Special Telephone Call tax (STC Tax) of40cents per minute as set by the Jamaica Government. ALL applicable minutes used (Digicel to Digicel,to other local land lines and mobiles and international calls) will be subject to this tax. This applies tocalls made in Jamaica and also calls made while roaming. This tax is on voice calls only and does notapply to SMS or any other data service.Calls made using bonus credit from International and Online top up transactions will be free from tax.Free minutes under the Gimme 5 promotion, including Gimme 5 Digicel to Digicel, Gimme 5 PrepaidFree Nights, Gimme 5 International, will also be exempt from tax.Calls to activate products and services, Check Voicemail, Digicel Customer Care, Emergency and specialservices, to Check Your Balance and Top Up Your Account, Toll free (1-888-XXX-XXXX) numbers areexempt from the Special Telephone Call tax.1. Who will be affected by this new tax?All voice customers2. How will the tax be charged?For every minute on a call the customer will be charged an additional $0.40 per minute.This tax will be applied to ALL calls as follows:o Digicel to Digicelo Digicel to local landlineso Digicel to other mobileso Calls to International numbers

o Calls within Closed User Groups (CUG)Additionally the following prepaid plan minutes have been adjusted to cover the cost ofthe tax within the plan:o VIP Plano International Call PlanPostpaid subscription and bundle amount for the VIP and International Call plans willremain as is, however customers will see the new STC tax on the bill as a separate lineitem.Customers will be charged tax at rates seen in table below:Calling From To Tax Per MinuteDigicel Mobile Digicel Mobile J$0.40Digicel Mobile Other Mobile J$0.40Digicel Mobile Fixed Lines/Landlines J$0.40Digicel Mobile International J$0.40Digicel Mobile (while roaming) All calls J$0.403. Will I also be charged this tax for calls that I receive?No.Customers will only be charged for calls they make. Calls received do not attract the tax.4. What numbers are exempt from the tax? Calls to activate products and services, Check Voicemail, Digicel Customer Care, Emergency andspecial services, to Check Your Balance and Top Up Your Account, Toll free (1-888-XXX-XXXX)numbers are exempt from the Special Telephone Call tax. This tax does not apply to textmessages.5. Will the new tax apply to GCT exempt or zero rated customers?Yes.

All calls made by GCT exempt customers will also be subject to the new government tax.6. How will this tax be collected from PREPAID customers? For every minute spent on a call made from their Digicel phone, prepaid customers willbe required to pay an additional J$0.40 for the Special Telephone Call tax.Customers on the Standard $10(peak)/$8 (off peak) rate and the J$8.99 One Rate planswill be charged using per second billing.Example: A customer on the standard rate makes a Digi to Digi call during peakhours for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The customer will be required to pay $25for the call plus tax of $1, a total of $26 based on per second billing.Example: A customer on the One Rate plan makes a call to a landline for 2minutes and 30 seconds. The customer will be required to pay $22.47 for the callplus tax of $1, a total of $23.47 based on per second billing.Customers on the Prepaid $2.89 Sweet Plan will be charged using per minute billing.Therefore the customer will be required to have the total amount of the cost of the firstminute of the call, $2.89 + tax of $0.40 to initiate the call.Example: A customer is on the prepaid sweet plan and makes a Digi to Digi callfor 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The customer will be required to pay $8.67 for thecall plus tax of $1.20, a total of $9.87 based on per minute billing.The following table may be used to check the new charges when the tax is added to the Digicelper minute rates.DestinationPeak Rates/minPrepaidStandard Rates (per second billing)Peak Rates/min(Tax Included)Off Peak Rate/minOff Peak Rate(Tax included)

Digicel $10.00 $10.40 $8.00 $8.40Digi Caribbean $10.00 $10.40 $10.00 $10.40LIME Mobile $14.20 $14.60 $13.80 $14.20Landline $12.00 $12.40 $10.00 $10.40Flow $17.70 $18.10 $15.80 $16.20International $17.75 $18.15 $17.75 $18.15One Rate - 8.99 (per second billing)Destination Peak Rates/minPeak Rates/min(Tax Included) Off Peak Rate/minOff Peak Rate(Tax included)Digicel $8.99 $9.39 $8.99 $9.39Digi Caribbean $10.00 $10.40 $10.00 $10.40LIME Mobile $8.99 $9.39 $8.99 $9.39Landline $8.99 $9.39 $8.99 $9.39Flow $8.99 $9.39 $8.99 $9.39International $17.75 $18.15 $17.75 $18.15Sweet Plan (per minute billing)Destination Peak Rates/minPeak Rates/min(Tax Included) Off Peak Rate/minOff Peak Rate(Tax included)Digicel $2.89 $3.29 $2.89 $3.29Digi Caribbean $10.00 $10.40 $10.00 $10.40LIME Mobile $6.99 $7.39 $6.99 $7.39Landline $6.99 $7.39 $6.99 $7.39Flow $6.99 $7.39 $6.99 $7.39International $17.75 $18.15 $17.75 $18.157. Will the tax be charged using per second OR per minute billing? This is dependent on the plan that the customer has active:o For customers on the Prepaid Sweet Plan tax will be charged similar to the$2.89 rate using per minute billing.o For all other customers, the tax will be charged using per second billing.8. How will this tax be collected from POSTPAID customers? For every minute spent on a call made from their Digicel phone, Postpaid customers willbe required to pay an additional J$0.40 for the Special Telephone Call tax. Postpaid customers will be charged using per second billing.

Example: A customer who has available on net bundle minutes makes a call for2 minutes and 30 seconds. The customers bundle balance will reduce by theminutes used and the charge of the call will be $0 plus tax of $1, a total of $1based on per second billing. This will be added to the balance owing on thepostpaid bill.Example: A customer on who does not have bundle minutes available makes acall for 2 minutes to a LIME mobile at a peak rate of $14 per minute. Thecustomer will be required to pay $28 for the call plus tax of $0.80, a total of$28.80 based on per second billing.Postpaid customers will see the new STC tax on the bill as a separate new line item.Postpaid (0utside of bundles)Anywhere Plan (per second billing)Destination Peak Rates/minPeak Rates/min(Tax Included) Off Peak Rate/minOff Peak Rate(Tax included)Digicel $2.89 $3.29 $2.89 $3.29Digicel Caribbean $10.00 $10.40 $10.00 $10.40LIME Mobile $8.99 $9.39 $8.99 $9.39Landline $8.99 $9.39 $8.99 $9.39Flow $8.99 $9.39 $8.99 $9.39International $17.75 $18.15 $17.75 $18.15Standard Plan (per second billing)Destination Peak Rates/minPeak Rates/min(Tax Included) Off Peak Rate/minOff Peak Rate(Tax included)Digicel $2.89 $3.29 $2.89 $3.29Digicel Caribbean $10.00 $10.40 $10.00 $10.40LIME Mobile $14.00 $14.40 $13.00 $13.40Landline $7.00 $7.40 $6.00 $6.40Flow $7.00 $7.40 $6.00 $6.40International $17.75 $18.15 $17.75 $18.15

9. How will this tax be collected from Corporate customers? Calls made by Corporate customers will be charged similar to Prepaid and Postpaidcustomers (questions 6 above) with the exception of calls made within the corporateCUG.Calls made by Prepaid CUG customers within the corporate CUG will be charged the$0.40 per minute Special Telephone Call ta x, however the charge will be allocated tothe master account only.Postpaid CUG customers will see the new STC tax on the bill as a separate line item.10. Will tax be charged on calls made from Digicel Fixed Lines?Yes.Tax will be charged on calls made using Digicel fixed linesCalling FromToTax(per minute charge)Digicel Fixed Line Digicel Mobile J$0.40Digicel Fixed Line Other Mobile J$0.40Digicel Fixed Line Fixed Lines/Landlines J$0.05Digicel Fixed Line International J$0.4011. Will this tax be charged when I make calls while roaming overseas?Yes.Customers who roam will also be required to pay this tax once they make a call fromtheir Digicel phones.12. I purchased an International Call Plan, will the international calls I make using this planalso be subject to the tax?The International Call Plans have been adjusted to accommodate the cost of the tax asfollows

For Prepaid:International 1000 Plan• No change to subscription fee• Minutes reduced from 1000 to 700 international minutesInternational 1250 Plan• No change to subscription fee• Minutes to be reduced from 1250 to 900 minutes.What does this mean for Prepaid customers using this service?i. Customers will NOT be charged government STC tax of $0.40 per minutefrom their International Call Plan for international calls made with theInternational call plan as the cost of the plan now includes the taxii. This means that customers do not need to have available credit/balancein their account in order to make calls using the International Call Plan.For Postpaid: The plan minutes and subscription fee will remain unchanged. For postpaid customers,the tax will be charged as a line item on the postpaid bill for all minutes used. Customer will now check their International Calling balance by dialing *130*7#.However, if the International Call Plan minutes are exhausted before the planexpires and additional minutes are not purchased the customer will be charged aper minute rate of $8.00 plus STC tax of $0.40. This is a total of $8.40 per minutefor international calls.Customers who activated an International Bundle Plan before July 19 th will notbe impacted by reduced minutes. Reduced minutes apply going forward whenthe plan is renewed or when additional bundle minutes are purchased.Roll over minutes will not be subject to tax at the time of renewal. The maximumnumber of minutes that can be rolled-over is equivalent to the number ofminutes in the Plan the customer is on.

i. The maximum amount of minutes that can be rolled over to a newInt’l 1000 Plan is 700 minutes.ii.The maximum amount of minutes that can be rolled over to a newInt’l 1250 is 900 minutes.13. I purchased a VIP Plan, will my calls within the group be subject to the tax?Due to the implementation of the STC tax the following changes will be made to the VIP plans asat July 25 th :For prepaid customers the minutes in your plan will be reduced effective July 25 th to account forthe new tax.i. Therefore your VIP Talk plan with 330 minutes has now been reduced to 250 minutes,while the subscription fee remains unchanged at $450.ii.Your VIP Talk Unlimited Plan with 3410 minutes has also been reduced to 1350 minuteswhile the subscription fee remains unchanged at $900For postpaid customers, the tax will be charged as a line item on the postpaid bill for all minutesused. The plan minutes and subscription fee will remain unchanged.Customers currently on a VIP Plan purchased before July 25 will also see a reduction in plan minutes.Reduced minutes will also apply when your plan is renewed.‣ E.g. If a customer activated a VIP Talk Unlimited Plan on July 20, 2012 with 3410 minutesand had used only 10 minutes, as at July 25 th 12:00AM the available minutes remaining willbe 1350-10 = 1340 minutes.‣ E.g. if a customer activated a VIP Talk Unlimited Plan on July 20, 2012 with 3410 minutesand used 2000 minutes, as at July 25 th 12:00 AM the available minutes remaining will be 0.14. I have loyalty points on my phone, when I redeem them for credit will calls made usingthat credit be subject to tax?No.

All calls made using credit redeemed from the loyalty points will NOT be charged theSpecial Telephone Call tax. Customers may check their balance by dialing *120*3#.15. I receive $100 Anniversary credit on my first top up every month. When I make calls usingthis credit will these calls also be subject to tax?The $100 Anniversary credit received on the first top up for the month is added to thecustomer’s main account. Calls made from credit in the main account are charged thecost of the call (depending on the rate plan that the customer is on) plus $0.40 perminute.16. If I qualify for Gimme 5 Prepaid Free Nights, will my free calls between 11PM and 6AM besubject to the tax?NoAfter qualifying for Prepaid Free Nights, customers will NOT be required to pay theSpecial Telephone Call tax on each free minute spent on the call.17. I have activated Gimme 5 Postpaid Free Nights and Weekends on my account; will my callsmade during those times be subject to the tax?YesAfter activating Postpaid Free Nights and Weekends, customers will be required to paythe Special Telephone Call tax on each free minute spent on the call.The plan minutes and subscription fee will remain unchanged at $350 per month. Thetax will be charged as a line item on the postpaid bill for all minutes used.18. If I qualify for Gimme 5 local and Gimme 5 International calls, will my free minutes duringthat call also be subject to the tax?For Prepaidi. No.

ii.Once a customer makes a call for five minutes and qualifies for Gimme 5 localcalls or Gimme 5 International calls the Free minutes used will not be chargedthe STC Tax.For Postpaidi. Noii.However, the tax will be seen as a line item on the postpaid bill for all minutesused; also on the bill the customer will also see a Rebate of this tax amount.19. I received double/triple bubble credit from International OR Online Top Up done on myaccount; will my calls also be subject to the tax?No.Calls made using bonus credit from International and Online top up transactions will befree from tax.Customers should dial *120*6# to check their bonus credit balance for Online Top Up or*120*12# to check their bonus credit balance for International Top Up.20. Will this only affect Digicel customers? No, all telephone service providers will be required to implement this tax as set out bythe Government of Jamaica.