DUBAI: Royalty rates, or taxes, levied on Dubai-based telecom operator du are likely to remain unchanged in 2017, the company's chairman said on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates finance ministry had previously set out a five-year timetable for du's royalty - or tax - rates for 2012 to 2016. This steadily increased du's rates until the company paid the same in percentage terms as former monopoly Etisalat.
Both companies will pay 15 percent of their regulated revenue - which excludes the likes of handset sales - and 30 percent of their regulated profit in royalties this year, leaving a question mark as what will happen from 2017 onwards.
Du is awaiting further instructions, but doesn't expect royalty rates to change next year, du chairman Ahmad bin Byat told a conference in Dubai.
Reuters
