Ignore supposed increases in lorry fares, spare parts - GPRTU, spare parts dealers urge public

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association have denied increases in lorry fares and spare parts.

They have, therefore, urged the public to dismiss such information circulating among sections of the public.

However, VIP Jeoun Transport Limited, which had publicised new fares to take effect yesterday, said those fares had been put on hold, following an urgent communication it received from the Minister of Transport.

Unfortunate

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GPRTU, Alhaji Abass Ibrahim Moro, told the Daily Graphic that the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC) had not met to decide increment in lorry fares and by what percentage.

“It's just unfortunate that a transport operator will come up and decide on what he thinks is good for him. We don't do things that way,” he emphasised.

Alhaji Moro said all transport operators would have to come together to decide on the umbrella body of the GRTCC.

The GRTCC is a government body responsible for coordinating and regulating the road transport industry in Ghana, including setting fares and addressing issues such as fuel price increases and driver compliance.

He described the arbitrary increases in fares as unhealthy and called on the general public to disregard the information about an increase in fares.

Decision

Alhaji Moro said every time a decision was to be taken to increase lorry fares, a critical look was taken of all the components that operators used and “if the prices have changed, we bring them together and look for a percentage which will qualify for an upward adjustment. Then we meet with the Transport Minister who, of course, represents the general public,” he explained.

He said once a decision was taken, the new rates were published for all to see and be abreast of in the interest of transparency.

For its part, the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association categorically refuted and debunked the recent claims made by the “Alliance of Drivers – Ghana, alleging that rising spare parts prices are a contributing factor to their announced 20 per cent increase in lorry fares effective March 17, 2025”.

“This claim is false, misleading, and must be disregarded by the public,” it said in a statement issued and signed by the Communication Director, Takyi Addo.

It said the Chairman of the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association and President of the Ghana Auto Parts Dealers Association, Henry Okyere Jnr, had emphasised that there had been no increase in the prices of spare parts.

“There have been no changes in import duties or market conditions that could justify the assertion that spare parts costs are driving transportation fare hikes. The new government remains committed to supporting the spare parts industry.

“We urge the Alliance of Drivers – Ghana to ensure that any adjustments to transportation fares are based on factual economic indicators and not unfounded allegations,” it said, adding that fare increases should be discussed transparently with all relevant stakeholders, including the government regulators and transport unions to ensure fairness and accuracy.

On hold

The General Manager of VIP Jeoun Transport Limited, Ernest Frimpong-Manso, said the company had, as of last Friday, announced new fares to take effect from Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

However, he said the company received an urgent communication from the Minister of Transport and it had decided not to implement the new prices.

“We received urgent communication from the transport minister, and then I have just put the information or the communication before the director and we are resolved to stand down the prices and not charge the new prices from March 18 until we come back to meet up with the Transport Minister, and then any new information will be given out,” he said.

“But as it is now, as I speak with you, the prices that we published will not be collected from tomorrow,” Mr Frimpong-Manso emphasised.

Asked what had informed the company’s decision, he said it was due to four reasons, adding that the last time VIP increased prices was on April 26, 2024.

He mentioned the four factors to be rising operational costs, the adverse impact of bad roads on buses, the cost of spare parts and lubricants, and the cost of fuel products.

Suggesting to him that spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai had not increased their prices, he said: “We have heard that story, we don’t buy our parts from Abossey Okai, we are just saying that something that was GH¢100 as of April 2024 may not be GH¢100 as of March 2025, a whole 12 months.”