Tele Tax

Before the budget, a series of taxes made up of a 2.0 percent 'environmental conservation levy', a 10 percent 'mobile subscriber levy' a 03 percent nation building tax and a 12 percent value added tax were in place.

All this translated into an effective total tax of about 31.

"The new single tax at 20 percent will result in a lower telephone bill.

The government also imposed a 2.0 rupee per minute tax on international calls.

"Over the last few months there was a sharp drop international calls due to competition," he said.