The Industrial Relations Director of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) Alhaji Abass Imoro has indicated that the leadership of the union is going to have a meeting next week to determine an upward review of transport fares.
According to Mr. Abass, the prices of fuel have gone up and tariffs for water and electricity have gone up significantly. This has made it obvious that transport operators need to adjust fares in order to survive and stay in business.
“We run transport with other components which have seen price increase. Insurance policy has been increased, spare parts have gone up so definitely we have to also increase our fares. If we are being given the choice, we will rather ask the government to reduce some of the taxes, levies and margins on fuel we have been complaining about over some years so that automatically transport fares will decrease. We know that if transport fares go up, businesses slow down for some time” he told 3FM Sunrise Morning Show on Friday, February 3, 2023.
“We are happy that now the situation is clear and the public and the media in anticipation are already asking us whether we are going to increase fares. We are not happy to be increasing prices but if we don’t change our fares how can we survive?” He stated.
The Public Utility Regulatory Commission announced an increase of electricity and water tariffs on February 1, 2023. The new tariffs push electricity up by 29.96 per cent for all customers and water by 8.3 per cent. Also, the prices of fuel have gone up since 1st February, 2023.
By Samuel Afriyie Owusu|3news.com|Ghana