The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has slammed the Transport Ministry for its recent directive to the Ghana Police Service to arrest drivers who are charging new transport fares.
COPEC deems the directive as senseless.
Director of Research at COPEC, Paul Ofori, says the Ministry lacks the authority to regulate transport fares in a deregulated market.
The Ministry issued a directive on Monday, April 15, instructing the Ghana Police Service to arrest commercial drivers who charge fares exceeding the approved rates.
The Ministry indicated that negotiations for new public transport fares are currently ongoing with road transport operators.
However, Mr. Paul Ofori maintained that the Ministry cannot compel transport unions to do what it wants.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he said the Transport Ministry has no basis in law to determine transport fares.
He explained that the ministry has no authority because of the deregulated market we have in Ghana, where the cost of a fare is passed on and not regulated by the government.
He also attributed the increase in fuel prices to trends on the international market, the depreciation of the cedis against the dollar, taxes and levies.
“The directive by the ministry to the police to arrest the drivers, excuse my language, is senseless. The ministry does not have the power to issue such a directive. This is a deregulated market where the cost of a fare is passed on and not regulated by the government, so the ministry’s directive makes no sense. I don’t know the locus of the government to issue that directive. You don’t determine the prices by the OMCs, so why do you want to determine the fares charged by the commercial drivers?
He justified the increase in transport fares but urged drivers to be considerate.
He said the 30% increase was excessive and requested them to consider hiking rates by 10% or no more than 20%.
“They [drivers] have every right to increase transportation fares. If the OMCs can increase their prices, what prevents the drivers from doing the same? The increment in transport fares is justified, and so we agree with the commercial drivers. However, we are appealing to them to reconsider the 30 percent. The 30 percent is extreme. We want to appeal to them to reduce it. They should consider and increase it by either 10 to 15 percent or 20 percent maximum.”
By: Rashid Obodai Provencal/Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
