The Chamber for Consumer Protection and Public Safety has demanded an immediate reversal of the 15% transport fare hike that takes effect from Monday February 1, 2016.
The fare hike was approved by the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC) at the weekend.
According to stakeholders in the industry, the new fares are as a result of the increase in the prices of petroleum products, a domino effect of the passage of the energy sector levy by parliament.
It caused the prices of petroleum products to shoot up by 27% as of January 4, 2016.
A gallon of petrol now sells around GHS15.40 with diesel going for GHS14.50. The price of LPG has also gone up by about 18 percent. The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) had warned all its members to desist from increasing transport fares until new fares were announced after negotiations.
In a statement jointly signed by Anthony Morrison, Executive Director; and Stephen Kwabena Attuh, Deputy Executive Director, Communications, the Chamber said: “We are outraged by this latest increase, more because the prices at the pump for various petroleum products are expected to see a reduction effective today 1st February, 2016.
“We have taken cognisance of the fact that petrol prices went up by some 28% this year, which would have warranted a commensurate increase in transport fares.
“However, the Chamber had equally taken note of the fact that prices at the pump remained lower than they were in July 2015 before the increase of fare by transport operators.
“The Chamber remained cognisant of the fact that soon after the increase in transport fares in July 2015, prices of fuel kept going down consistently. This had resulted in transport operators making windfall profits.
“It has become a constant worry for the Chamber, the speed of light with which businesses in this country would not hesitate shifting cost to the poor consumer,” the statement added.
It said: “The drive and desire for profit is causing the business man to mount unbearable pressure on the already burdened Ghanaian.
“We are, with this statement, demanding an immediate reversal of the announced 15% increase in transport fares as we deem it unwarranted and inappropriate to the ordinary consumer.
“We are convinced beyond every reasonable doubt that, should prices remain where they are, the transport operators would still make profit worthy enough to sustain their business,” the Chamber said.
