The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has asked the Ghanaian public to ignore the 15% increment in transport fares announcement by the Transport Operators Association of Ghana.
The Transport Operators Association, in a statement, announced that it will increase transport fares by 15% from November 2, 2024.
The association premised its decision on a rise in operational costs, including fuel price increases, maintenance, and other essential expenses.
But the GPRTU, responding to the proposed increment, asked the public to ignore it.
Abass Imoro, the Industrial Relations Officer for GPRTU, speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM said, ‘’We need to set the records straight. You can register as a transport operator, but that does not grant you the right to take a blanket decision in increasing transport fares. You cannot do that, and the law does not grant any transport operator the right to increase fares arbitrarily”.
In the past, it was only the GPRTU that dealt with matters relating to transport fares, but in recent times, the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council now represents the other minor transport operators. It is impossible for individual transport operators to increase fares; if not, we should be paying more as transport compared to what we are paying at the moment.
It does not work like that. We will call for calm. If there was the need for an increment, the stakeholders would dialogue and agree on the most appropriate percentage. Before we increase transport fares, we factor a lot of issues, and most importantly, we consider the passengers. We don’t just increase the fares indiscriminately,’’ he explained.
“It is true that the cost of fuel and other items has risen, but have we also exhausted the established processes for announcing new transport fares? No, we have not done that. We ask the association to exercise restraint and allow us to engage with stakeholders and reach an agreement. We’ll encourage passengers to pay the current rate. We will go back to the drawing board to agree on any new fares that may be required, and then we will notify the general public.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
