Transport fares to be slashed by 10% beginning August 1
Commuters across the country are expected to pay 10% less in the transport fares beginning this Sunday, August 1.
Various transport unions held consultations following the easing of the number of passengers onboard commercial vehicles by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday, July 26.
The National Vice Chairman of Ghana Private Road Transport Union of Ghana (GPRTU), Robert Sarbah, told theghanareport.com that fares had to be reduced to reflect the latest directive since the last 15% increment was due to the reduction in the number of passengers onboard all commercial vehicles due to COVID-19.
“Once social distancing is no more applicable, we felt it would be fair to reduce the fare,” he said.
The drivers had effected a 15% increase on July 1 due to limitation of the number of passengers to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.
They raised concerns about revenue losses as passenger size shrunk while fuel cost increments shot up.
Commuters were hoping for a complete scrap of the increment, but Mr Sarbah explained that they had to keep 5% to cushion them against what they had lost before the last transport fare hike.
“We have incurred huge losses, and we thought we should have something small to make up for those losses,” he explained.
The decrease is applicable to all commercial vehicles including ‘Trotro’, taxis, buses and other forms of transportation.
Mr Sarbah disclosed that stakeholders including the Ministry of Transportation, Intercity STC, Metro Mass Transit Limited, VIP, Progressive Transport Owners’ Association (PROTOA) and the V.I.P Jeoun Transport Company arrived at the decision.
The campaign by COPEC-Ghana for reduction
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers-Ghana (COPEC) called on authorities to scrap the increments immediately when operators started loading passengers at full capacity.
The Executive Secretary of COPEC-Ghana, Duncan Amoah, argued for a further reduction of 5% after the removal of the new fare.
The operators have subsequently implies cut the fares but not to the level COPEC-Ghana had wished.