The National Insurance Commission has suspended the publicized increment of insurance tariffs for commercial vehicles. This comes in the wake of calls by the Minister of Transport, Mike Hammah for its suspension when he met interest parties on Monday. “I met the National Insurance Commissioner and she agreed that they haven’t had enough education and sensitization of the public,” he told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoh. He explained the implementation was suspended to allow further consultation and sensitization. This, he said, would enable the public understand the need for the proposed increase before it was implemented. The insurance companies had intended to increase premium payments by an average of 200% for commercial drivers, effective Monday, May 10, 2010, but was opposed by drivers, while the Transport Ministry also said it was not consulted. A technical committee would therefore be instituted to take a second look at it, Mr Hammah added, explaining that “All the increases have to be justified.” He said some of the proposed tariffs might be due to inefficiencies on the part of the insurance companies, whilst others might be due to inefficiencies on the part of some government agencies. “Whatever it is, all these need to be identified,” he noted. However, he said, not only would the new tariff, if it had been implemented, inure to the benefit of the insurance companies, but drivers too would have enjoyed a better compensation benefit. Mr Hammah disagreed that the new premium would not affect transport cost. He said for the insurance companies to say the “astronomical increase” will have no effect on transport cost “will not be entirely right”, hence the need “to go back to the drawing board to iron” out issues. Commercial car drivers had threatened to pass on the new tariffs to commuters if they were forced to bear the new costs. Story by Isaac Essel,Myjoyonline.com,Ghana