Transport Fares To Go Up Next Week

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) is set to announce new transport fares by next week.

The new fares will reflect fare increases that have been “projected into the future”, according to the General Secretary of the GPRTU, Mr. Stephen Okudzeto.

He told Radio Gold Thursday morning that all required inputs such as insurance, lubricants, spare parts and others needed for running commercial vehicles have been factored into the new fares soon to be announced.

Stephen Okudzeto said an announcement of the new fares next week is awaiting the consummation of usual protocols the process of announcing transport fares requires.

He also welcomed as good news, the suspension of the implementation of hiked insurance premiums and described it as a step in the right direction. He said while the GPRTU expects some increment in insurance fees, the increases should be reasonable as any unreasonable increases, could be transferred to passengers and lead to ripples in the transport sector.

Insurance operators at the beginning of the week indicated they had agreed premium hikes of up to 800 percent with the National Insurance Authority and were ready to implement.

That news was roundly rejected by various transport unions and the general public.