The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has confirmed that once the 2021 budget is approved by Parliament, road transport operators can increase their fares.
The Union claims that new fares will be available as soon as the budget is authorized.
According to the union, the 2021 budget includes a range of taxes that would have an effect on their activities, hence the decision.
During the budget presentation last Friday, Caretaker Finance Minister Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu announced that gasoline prices would rise by 5.7 percent at the pump, along with a raise in road tolls.
He clarified that the proposed tax, known as the Sanitation and Pollution Levy, would be used to finance attempts to invest in sanitation and pollution.
“To provide the requisite resources to address these challenges and fund these activities, the government is proposing a Sanitation and Pollution Levy (SPL) of 10 pesewas on the price per litre of petrol/diesel under the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA),” the Minister said.
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“Mr. Speaker, it has become very necessary for the government to consider a review of the energy sector levies. The Energy Sector Recovery Levy of 20 pesewas per litre on petrol/diesel under the ESLA is hereby submitted to this House for approval,” he added.
In an interview with Citi News, the Secretary-General, Godfred Abulbire, claimed that the rise of the rate would impact many components of the revenue.
He assumes that if they (GPRTU) do not lift the fares, it would have a detrimental effect on their activities.
“The moment Parliament approves the 2021 budget, we are sure that we will come out with lorry fares increased by a certain margin. We don’t want to make reference to the fuel price adjustments because there are other components like the road tolls which have also been increased. Usually, the practice has been that when fuel price is adjusted by a certain percentage then we are also informed to increase fares by a certain percentage equivalent to that effect, but now we can see that from the budget proposals, there are so much into it which will have more effect than the fuel itself.”
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, GPRTU requested its representatives who had raised fares to reverse their decision.
Even so, the proposed new taxes have caused some public outrage after they were unveiled on Friday, March 12, 2021.
According to the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, it is a sloppy approach to dealing with problems, especially in the energy field.
According to its Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah, such action is insensitive, particularly given that many Ghanaians and businesses are still suffering from the effects of COVID-19, and fuel prices have already risen by around 11% in the last two months.
“This is very predictable, but one might have anticipated some attention to the times and the reality that Ghanaians and businesses are still reeling from the COVID-19 effect,” he said in an interview with Citi News.
As a consequence, he begged Parliament not to accept it.
Source: ATLFMNEWSROOM
