The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) is pushing for a 40 percent increase in transport fares ahead of its meeting with the government on Thursday, October 20.

They explained that their demand is due to the recent increase in fuel prices, lubricants, spare parts and taxes.

A member of the Communications Team of GPRTU, Samuel Amoah in an interview on Newsnight, Monday said since May this year, fuel prices have increased by about 42 percent.

According to him, any other percentage increase apart from 40 percent will make it impossible for the drivers to provide efficient services to passengers.

“We are not using only fuel prices to do our calculations. The components we use to run our businesses are, the major ones; fuel price, lubricants, spare parts and taxes and all these things have gone high…The dollar rate that we normally use to check on the spare parts prices has also gone high. So these are the reasons why things are going this way.

“So if we do not come up with 40 percent, there is no way we can serve the clients the way we used to do,” he stated.

Government was expected to have met the Union today over their proposed 40 percent increase in transport fares but the meeting has been re-scheduled to Thursday.

“Our expectation is that per our calculation, the 40 percent is what is going to help us run our business. We are not going to compromise on it, because we should have increased it by 50 percent and we are putting some things into consideration that is why we have arrived at 40 percent,” Samuel Amoah added.

The Union also wants the government to reduce some taxes on fuel.

Already, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have begun increasing the prices of petroleum products at the pumps.

Checks by Joy Business indicate that some OMCs are selling a price of petrol per liter for GH¢13.10, from the previous price of GH¢11.10, about 16% increase.

On the other hand, the price of diesel per liter has shot up to about GH¢15.99, from the previous price of GH¢13.90. This is about a 12% surge.

Similarly, the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is expected to go up by about 10%, beginning October 17, 2022.