Lebanon wants to charge for using WhatsApp

Interesting but almost impossible to get a proposal from the Lebanese government. They want to charge a monthly fee for using WhatsApp to their citizens. It seeks to collect about 20 cents a day, as reported by various media. The reason is that the messaging application is replacing voice calls, and the country has one of the most expensive rates.

Lebanon wants to charge for using WhatsApp

In this way, it is expected to be able to collect about 200 million dollars a year by charging to use the popular application. A somewhat controversial bet for many.

Collect a fee

In addition to WhatsApp, this government measure could affect other applications. Facebook Messenger and FaceTime are two of those that would also be affected by this monthly fee. What we do not know is if it would be the same in all cases. But presumably, the fee will be the same for all messaging applications that replace calls.

The protests were immediate. Since many people in Lebanon have protested these market plans. Especially since there are other problems in the country, related to corruption, which are undoubtedly more important than this measure.

Without a doubt, it is a somewhat complex plan, because WhatsApp is a free application since it was acquired by Facebook. In the past, you had to pay 99 cents a year for it, but this has not been the case for years. So it seems unlikely that the Lebanese government will be lucky with this measure.

Reuters Source