The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has disclosed that fares are expected to go up by between 10 to 15 per cent by this Thursday. 

According to the Union, they are currently in discussions with government and are hopeful of finalising negotiations by Wednesday for the new fares to be announced possibly on May 6, 2021.

Why the increase?
The proposed increase has been influenced by adjustments in price of petroleum products by some of the major oil marketing companies.

This was after Shell and Total have increased their prices by a little over 12 per cent, with a litre of diesel and petrol selling at ¢6.13. Another major player, Allied is selling a litre for ¢6.10.

According to the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, the prices are going up because its members are just applying the 0.30 pesewas on the price buildup of petroleum products as announced in the budget and the 0.17 pesewas introduced by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

GPRTU and Transport fares going up
The General Secretary of the GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire, noted that they are hopeful finalising negotiations with government on May 5, 2021, for the announcement to be made immediately after the meeting.

Mr Abulbire added that the Union is optimistic that government will accept their proposals, citing current economic conditions and rising cost of operations for the various Transport unions in the country.

“We should also realised that we are not just looking at fuel prices but other cost components that have been increased recently,” he added.

Asked whether a 15 per cent adjustment in transport fares will be enough to deal with their issues, the General Secretary responded that they believe it’s okay for now to help slip.

He also disclosed that they have put in place measures to ensure that all members comply by the new prices that they will be announced on Thursday, May 6.

It is, however, not clear right now, whether the announcement by the Energy Minister, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, that government has reduced 17 pesewas introduced by the National Petroleum Authority on fuel prices will impact transport fares negotiations.