There have been speculations about the Ghana Private and Road Transport Union increasing transport fares from Monday, October 25, 2021.
General Secretary for GPRTU, Godfred Abulbira Adogma has however debunked the news.
According to Godfred Abulbira Adogma, his outfit is in current talks with the government to cut down on some taxes and levies placed on petroleum products.
He further noted that his outfit will only increase transport fares if all negotiations with the government fail.
“We have not said anywhere that lorry fares will be increased on Monday. We have tabled out certain things with the Ministry, but when the discussions fail, we will have no option than to adjust our fares to cushion us from the new prices of fuel,” Godfred Abulbira Adogma said in an interview monitored by Ghana Talks Business.
“So the issue of a specific date of Monday is something we are all surprised. Government should really look at the fuel taxes and remove them because it is not helping,” he further stated.
Rising Transport Fares – Fuel price trends
In recent months, fuel prices at the pump have witnessed an unprecedented rise. The latest is an increase of 2.59%, a situation, energy experts and some labour unions have criticized.
Within a period of 7 months, a kilo of Liquidfied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which was selling at GHS6.30 has increased to GHS7.80.
Petroleum companies such as Total and Goil are currently selling fuel at GHS6.80 per litre. This translates to GHS25.74 per gallon.
Rising transport fares – Mitigating measures
To mitigate the rising price of fuel, the government announced plans to remove the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PRSL) on petrol, diesel, and LPG for two months as approved by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
The announcement, however, wasn’t well-received by Ghanaians as many called for the complete removal of the levy.
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