Road Transport Operators have announced in a press release today, Friday, December 16, 2022 that there would be a reduction in transport fares by 15.3%, effective Monday, December 19, 2022.
This announcement was after the various stakeholders in the industry met to conduct a review on the transport fares so as to reach an agreement on an acceptable level of fare reduction proportionate with the current fuel prices.
Several complaints from commuters and the general public on the refusal of public operators to reduce the fare despite the recent reduction in the price of fuel necessitated this meeting.
Consequently, the two general secretaries of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC), Mr. Godfred Abulbire and Mr. Emmauel Ohene Yeboah, respectively on behalf of their organizations, signed the agreement to endorse the implementation of this new reduction in fares.
As per the agreement signed, the fare rate covers the following types of road transport operations; shared taxis, intra-city(tro-tro), intercity (long distance) and haulage.
The Road Transport Operators on this note requested that all Commercial Transport Operators comply with the new fares implemented and further urged them to post same at their loading stations.
They also requested from all Operators, Commuters as well as the General Public’s cooperation for effective implementation of the new fares. The unions further assured all transport operators and the general public of their continuous work in pushing forward their interests.
Fuel Prices Still to Decline
Meanwhile, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Ghana, Duncan Amoah, expressed delight at the step taken by the transport ministry to ensure operators reduce their charges on commuters.
Mr. Amoah said asking commuters to pay much on transport is being unfair to them especially following the continuous reduction of fuel prices, thus his joy.
The yuletide is a season in which people travel from one location to the other to celebrate and will thus be unreasonable and improper if transport fares are not reduced before then, especially now that fuel prices are being reduced, he said.
This, he said, will mean overburdening commuters to pay more than they actually should on fares especially those who have to board different cars to arrive at their destinations.
The COPEC secretary is expecting fuel prices to plummet by 2023 especially with the rapid appreciation of the cedi and performance of the forex lately. Fuel prices he said, are likely to drop to GH¢10.00 per gallon next year.
Mr. Amoah forsees another fuel price reduction before End-year 2022 and even further by early January, 2023 and hopes to see fuel price reduce beyond the GH¢10.00 per litre mark by next year as he earlier indicated.
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