Transport operators to negotiate 30% increment in transport fares on Monday
The Coalition of Transport Operators says its members are proposing a 30% rise in transport fares.
This decision was reached after a 16 member transport union including Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU), Concerned Drivers Association, Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA), amongst others, met on Thursday, February 3, 2022, in Accra over concerns about the hikes in fuel prices.
According to the union, the proposed increase stems from hikes in fuel prices lately in the country, which they say is taking a toll on their finances.
The union however says it will meet with the Ministry of Transport over the expected increment on Monday, February 7, 2022.
Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Citi News, the Public Relations Officer of the Concerned Drivers Association, David Agboado, hinted that passengers should expect an upward adjustment in transport fares after their meeting with the Sector Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah on Monday.
“On Thursday, we met at TUC, GPRTU headquarters, and we have decided to increase the transport fares by 30%. The measures we used to reach this decision are; the current increase in fuel prices, increase in the price of items we use, government charges amongst others. That is what we are going to charge after seeing the Minister on Monday,” he explained.
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Over the past few weeks, there have been a consistent increase in the price of fuel at the pumps, a situation many drivers have described as insensitive. According to the concerned drivers, the increments affect their profit margins leading to hardship in their individual livelihoods.
Reacting to the recent increment on Tuesday, the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, said the reintroduction of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levies (PSRL) by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), is an insensitive decision.
According to him, the move by the NPA will affect consumers and pose economic difficulties for them.
“What it means in simple terms is that your fuel prices will go up by that margin. 16 pesewas for petrol, 14 pesewas for diesel, 14 pesewas for LPG. We think this is very insensitive and badly timed. Insensitive to the extent that, you have for the first time in 28 years, where crude prices have crossed 90 dollars. Mostly in January, crude prices decelerate or decline. You see prices drop.
“Around this time, because of [trading] between Russia and Ukraine, and also undersupply by the OPEC block, there’s a lot of pressure on crude. Prices are going up already. We complain a lot. The driver unions complain a lot. Following which the President of the Republic gave a directive that the Stabilisation and Recovery Levy, one of the levies that we had all requested to be reduced, should be zeroed. The thinking would have been that we would wait for prices to ease a bit,” he stated.
