The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) says it is still considering an increase in transport fares, even after the government extended its GH¢2-per-litre intervention on diesel until the end of September.
Samuel Amoah, the union’s Deputy Public Relations Officer, said the support could reduce the scale of any increase eventually approved, but was unlikely to prevent fares from being reviewed upwards.
Speaking on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on 1 September, Mr Amoah said the GPRTU had originally intended to raise transport fares by 30% during the first week of August.
That proposal followed a sustained rise in fuel prices, which had increased operating costs for transport operators. The planned adjustment was put on hold after the government announced that it would absorb GH¢2 from the price of diesel.
Mr Amoah said the union welcomed the decision to continue the intervention through the end of September. However, he stressed that the GPRTU would still assess fares against the prevailing price of fuel.
“We have in mind of increasing transport fares. The first week of August we intended coming up with a 30% increase in transport fares, that was when the President also came in by taking GHC2 from the diesel prices.
“We appreciate what the government has done by extending the GHC2 to the end of September. At least, it can even reduce the percentage that maybe we would like to increase. Had it not been this intervention, we will be buying diesel around GHC20 thereabout.
“We will put it into consideration but that will not stop us from increasing transport fares based on where the fuel prices are now,” he explained.
The union has not yet settled on the size of the proposed increase. Mr Amoah said the 30% figure had been based on fuel prices at the time it was first considered, but that members had yet to agree on a final percentage.
“We first proposed 30% based on where the fuel price was. As I am speaking to you, we have not decided on the actual percentage that we will use for now. Hopefully, by tomorrow, Wednesday, we will get to know and communicate to the public,” he said.
The GPRTU had previously been asked by the government, through the Ministry of Transport, to maintain existing fares in August. Transport operators were also assured that fuel prices would fall in later pricing windows.
According to Mr Amoah, those reductions did not materialise. Instead, operators are dealing with further increases during the current September pricing window, strengthening the case for a review of fares.
The union is expected to announce its position after consulting its members. Until that process is completed, no final percentage increase has been confirmed, although the extension of the diesel support has not removed the possibility of higher transport fares.
