Transport fares remain unchanged although prices of petroleum products were increased from 18 to 27 percent on January 4. The increase became necessary when Parliament passed the Energy Sector Levy (ESL) in December 2015.According to the Finance Minister, the levy is to restructure, re- nationalize and consolidate energy sector levies to promote the prudent and efficient utilization of proceeds derived from the levies to facilitate sustainable long-term investments in the energy sector.
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) announced plans to increase transport fares last week but fares remain unchanged as of now. In fact, transport unions in the country met with officials of the Ministry of Transport on Thursday in an attempt to review transport fares following the increment of fuel prices.
The main reason why the upward review in transport fares have not been made yet is that the unions are anticipating an increase in prices of road tolls. So they are waiting for a confirmation on the road tolls before deciding on the transport fares.
In effect, the increment is bound to happen; its a matter of how much.
