Wrongful deductions made on electronic money transfers on the first day of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy) implementation would be refunded, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has assured.

According to the Head of Project Management Unit at the GRA, Isaac Kobina Amoako, the reimbursements would be done after the claims have been investigated and ascertained.

The GRA official was responding to a series of complaints from the public in an interview on Accra-based Joyfm on Monday which was monitored by the Ghanaian Times.

The first day of the e-levy implementation was defined by technical snags including the deduction of the 1.5 per cent levy on transfers even below the stipulated baseline of GH¢100 while others were overcharged.

Many of the affected persons, from various mobile networks and banks, took to social media to complain and show screenshots and messages they had received with calls on the GRA to do the needful.

According to MrAmoako, the authority had received the complaints from some charging entities including the banks and telecommunication companies, but a daily report would be generated on all transactions for redress.

“The feedback we got from one of the charging entities is that the configuration for off-net for less than 100 and below is being charged which is in two folds.

“The first fold is that, 100 and below whether on net or off-net does not attract E-Levy irrespective, but at the moment it’s a technical hitch. So it will be ratified automatically once the transaction is detected”, he said.

MrAmoako explained that the Authority would run daily reports for all transactions below GH¢100 that were exempt from the levy and the charge would be reverted.

“The customers don’t need to do any intervention. If indeed the investigation shows that it was the first hundred cedis or below for the day, the amount will be refunded”, he said.

MrAmoako also explained that the challenge faced was as a result of the lack of a connected platform that would host the various charging entities as currently, the charging entities; Telcos, Banks, Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and specialised deposit-taking institutions; were charging from their individual systems.

“In our engagement with the charging entities, we were going to go with a (project) where everybody was expected by May 1, to connect to a common platform and start charging using the common platform.

“But at the last minute, we realised that some of the charging parties came to us that they needed an extension so they can fully configure their system to connect to the common platform” , he said.

Since Sunday, all electronic money transfers that are done in a day and above GH¢100 are attracting a 1.5 per cent levy in line with the E-levy law which is expected to raise GH¢4.5 billion annually to support development projects.

The E-levy bill was passed on March 29, after the Minority caucus staged a walkout in the middle of sitting. The caucus is in court challenging the passage of the E-levy bill.