Government Proposes Charging For WhatsApp To Cover Budget Deficit

During yesterday’s cabinet meeting, the Lebanese government agreed to enforce a 20 cent/day fee on every WhatsApp user (and users of similar applications). This translates into approximately $6/month per user, adding to the already sky high fees we pay for telecommunication in comparison to other countries.

The fee was proposed as a patch solution for the fact that the telecom sector has seen a 33% decline in revenues over the past year, which they attribute to the rise of applications like WhatsApp.

The proposal has to be approved by parliament before it is put into effect.

Basically, they are willing to tax our pants off before they even think about setting up a sustainable economic plan.