The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has announced that it would soon consider increasing transport fares across the country. The Union said it will carry out this increase if the current trend of fuel price increments continues.
According to GPRTU, it projected the last increments of transport fares to last until December, 2021 but the rate at which fuel products are being increased arbitrarily, they may be compelled to increase it before December.
“We are in talks with the government. Because if it continues, we will be left with no options than to increase transport fares”.
Godfred Abulbire
Reacting to the increase in fuel price, the General Secretary of GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire, said the current system doesn’t match what they had expected. He indicated that, if the fuel price keeps going up, it means that lorry fares will go up to match and that means the consumer, which is the passenger, will bear the cost.
“We are still in talks with the Ministry to do something about it. Because for now, we don’t intend to match it like that and we will try to remain on this until December and the government should also do well to maintain it like this”.
Godfred Abulbire
Reacting to government’s zeroing of the price stabilization and recovery levy (PSRL) on petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for two months which was announced earlier, the General Secretary noted that it would have minimal impact on price of fuel unless all the eleven taxes on petroleum products are removed.
“We want all the levies on petroleum products to be removed. There are about eleven of them because we thought the plans by the government to zero the price stabilization and recovery levy (PSRL) on petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for two months could do something but it will not. If the pressure being mounted continues, we will mount it on our customer, we will end burdening the customers”.
Godfred Abulbire
Mr. Abulbire admitted that the zero price stabilization and recovery levy has answered one of its calls but if it’s too much, they must keep pressuring the government to take off the rest else what they can do is also to increase the fairs to match up.
“And it would mean we are pushing all on the customer”.
Godfred Abulbire
This comes after the Private Road Transport Commercial Operators Union together with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) expressed their disappointment in government for not putting in place any mitigation or stabilization measures to curtail the hikes in fuel and petroleum products in the country.
For the second Pricing-Window of October 2021, the nation has witnessed a 4.2 percent increase in petroleum prices across the various pumps in the country pending the suspension of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL). Due to this, a litre of fuel currently sells at GHS6.80 pesewas.
