Deputy Finance Minister Vyacheslav Pak noted that the government has not yet raised the issue of abolishing fees for the use of a subscriber number.

“This is a separate type of payment, it does not apply to targeted payments to public funds. Let’s just say, this is a certain indirect tax, it is a form of indirect tax, and this practice exists in many countries of the world,” he said.

Deputy director of the National Project Management Agency (NAPU) under the President of Uzbekistan, Guzal Islamova, underlined that this fee is not a national tax and compulsory payment.

She noted that the concept envisages abolishment of general taxes, rather than individual taxes. These issues will be considered during the discussion of the tax code.

Fee for use of subscriber numbers by legal entities, providing mobile communication services, was introduced in Uzbekistan in 2012. Today the fee is 4 thousand soums.