A group by name Ghana Committed Drivers Association of Ghana (CDAG), have suggested that, there will a an increase transport fares by 20 percent from Monday, October 29, 2020.

Normally, fares are being determined by the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council in collaboration with GPRTU, the Ministry of Transport and other stakeholders.

They say the decision is as a result of the continuous hike in fuel prices.

The Chairman of the Association told Citi News that the increase in fuel prices are unbearable as it does not correspond with the increase in fares. We can recall that, the president’s directive on social distancing forced these drivers to reduce the number of passengers. 

“All the fuel stations are increasing the fuel prices. If we the drivers do not increase our fares too, we can’t survive. We can no longer survive. We are in a liberal economy and no one determines the price for anyone so from Monday, we are going to increase it by 20 per cent. It must work,” he said.

Information from Citi News suggests that fuel prices had been increased by over 2%(National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

NPA says, the latest increase in fuel price is due to the hike in the price of finished petroleum products on the international market, despite a fall in the price of crude on the global market.

Currently, the price of petrol and diesel is GH¢5.21 per litre, up from the previous price of GH¢5.07 per litre.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako said: “Government can take away some of the taxes from petroleum whenever the prices go up on the world market. We asked the government to reduce the Special petroleum levy so that consumers can get some kind of relief from the high prices. Petroleum price in Ghana is very high and we need to find a sustainable way of addressing this.

Source: CITI NEWS ROOM