A new “radiation tax” is threatening to upset household budgets at a time when families are grappling with the rising cost of living despite the recent adoption of a less volatile method of tallying consumer price changes.
The tax is one of the sticking points in proposals by the Radiation Protection Board to beef up its revenues.
Besides proposing higher fees for its services, the board has broadened the range of items on which it can charge penalties for releasing harmful rays to the atmosphere to include mobile phone handsets, microwave ovens and transmission masts owned by telecommunications companies.
Industry players fear the new fees will dampen the recent growth in the telecommunications and consumer electronics sectors by pushing up retail prices for handsets, microwave ovens and other household items deemed to emit electromagnetic rays beyond the reach of the majority.
The board is
seeking public views on the proposed levies, which some stakeholders
have vowed to resist because they will mean additional taxation and a
burden on consumers.
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