20% Increment In Transport Fares Baffling – Consumer Protection Agency
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- 20% Increment In Transport Fares Baffling – Consumer Protection Agency
20% Increment In Transport Fares Baffling – Consumer Protection Agency
The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) says the 20 per cent increment in transport fares is on the high side.
The Agency said transport operators should have increased the fares by at most 15 per cent given the current high living conditions of the people and its impact on livelihoods.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Kofi Kapito, the Chief Executive Officer, CPA, described the new rate as “baffling.”
He said though the transport operators were private entities and reserved the right to adjust their prices to suit their operations, they should have been considerate on the rate.
He expressed worry that the transport operators did not negotiate with the Government on the rate as had been the case in the past to ensure that the interest of passengers were taken into consideration.
“They (transport operators) should have waited a little bit. The Minister for Transport has travelled…At the last negotiation, they demanded 30 per cent but 15 per cent was agreed upon pending the next window to increase.
“I am a little baffled. Maybe they should have increased it by 15 per cent instead of the 20 per cent,” Mr Kapito said.
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) implemented the new fare on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 – a development that has sparked widespread agitations among passengers.
The Union said the 20 per cent increment was due to the “astronomical increase” in fuel prices as we all as other components, including spare parts and lubricants.
“We have about 7 components that determine our prices and everything has gone up. Our members are suffering,” Mr Richard Yaw Amankwah, Deputy General Secretary in Charge of Operations, GPRTU told the GNA.
At the end of its last negotiations with the Government in February this year, which culminated in the last 15 per cent increment in transport fares, the GPRTU communicated that it had reached an agreement with the Government to adjust the fares upwards anytime fuel prices went up by 10 per cent or more.
As of the last increment, which took effect on February 26, 2022, petrol was selling at an average GH¢7.90 per litre. Currently, petrol is selling at an average GH¢10.35 per litre, with diesel trading at an average GH¢11.30 per litre.
“Per our calculations, we should have increased the fares by 30 per cent. But we also understand the plight of Ghanaians so we had to reduce it by 10 per cent,” Mr Amankwah said.
Source: GNA
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