The Coalition of Transport Operators has stated that the proposed 30% upward adjustment of fares will be implemented, regardless of the outcome of a meeting with the Transport Minister on Monday, February 7.

According to the commercial drivers, the increase in transport fares is as a result of the hikes in fuel prices and the associated effects on their finances.

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Concerned Drivers Association, David Agboado, stressed that passengers should expect the announcement of the new charges.

“We met as a Coalition and we have decided that we should increase the transport fares to 30%; it’s what we all agreed on. It doesn’t come by surprise or by anything. Like the previous increment, the items being used are what we used and added government's charges and we were able to get 30%.”

“That is what we are going to charge after seeing the Minister on Monday; we will charge 30% on our fares. This is what should be expected,” he said.

Members of the various drivers’ unions have periodically threatened to increase transport fares but held back their plans after engagements with the government.

They hoped to see a reduction in the prices of fuel products, a development which has been of much concern to them.

The current decision to increase fuel prices follows a meeting between some 16 transport unions on Thursday, February 3, 2022.

The meeting was to discuss the recent increment in fuel prices, and the accompanying impact on commercial transport operators.

The transport unions included the Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA) and the Concerned Drivers Association.

Currently, a litre of fuel has surpassed GH¢7 at some fuel pumps. Already, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has projected fuel prices to cross GH¢8 by March 2022.