Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketing Companies Association of Ghana is demanding the immediate withdrawal of the Cylinder Recovery Levy.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in a circular to industry players directed them to start charging 13.5 pesewas on each kilogram of LPG from April 1.

This directive will result in an increase in the price of LPG and the Marketing Companies are unhappy with the move.

In a statement copied to JoyNews, Chairman of the Association, Malam Bukari Amadu said members are opposed to the new levy.

“We have been at the forefront of efforts appealing to government to remove all existing taxes on levis from LPG to make the product more affordable to the ordinary Ghanaian consumer.

“It will, therefore, be ironic and indeed highly unprincipled for us to support the introduction of the new levy,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the NPA has defended the introduction of the new levy.

The Authority says the policy is intended to change the current mode of gas distribution into a more secure and safe manner.

The policy is to ensure increase usage of LPG from the current 25% to 50% by 2030.

As part of the CRM policy, the LPGMCs and OMCs will be responsible for the branding, safety and maintenance of the cylinders.

Customers will no longer have to take an empty cylinder to be filled, they simply take their empty cylinder to an OMC/LPGMC and pick up a filled cylinder.

There will be different cylinder sizes from 3kg to 14.5kg to ensure that consumers pay for what they can afford.

But the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has threatened legal action against the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) over the introduction of a new levy on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

COPEC says the current action of the regulator is disappointing and illegal.

In an interview with JoyBusiness, the Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah said, “this is very interesting, I do think the NPA itself appreciate the illegality that it is actually engaged in currently. For you to introduce any form of levy, there is a legal regime that one must follow.”

“In Act 691 that establishes the NPA, the NPA has no mandate, power within the setup to impose a new levy of such magnitude without recourse to parliament.”