After the long wait and the grace period, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) believes the time is ripe for transport operators to cut down on transport fares following what they describe as a significant fall in fuel prices.
The Executive Director of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, says public transport operators across the country must immediately reduce transport fares by a minimum of 10-15%, given the gains they made in fuel prices since the beginning of the year.
Speaking in an interview monitored by The High Street Journal, Duncan Amoah argued that, given the current fuel price trajectory, transport operators have no justification for the continued high cost of public transportation.
COPEC’s analysis reveals fuel prices have significantly reduced in excess of about 18% since the beginning of this year.
He pointed out that earlier in the year, fuel prices were trading above GH¢15 per litre, but recent market trends show a reduction of nearly GH¢3 per litre, marking a substantial relief for transport operators whose pricing is heavily dependent on fuel costs.
COPEC, which had previously cautioned against pushing operators too hard to cut prices, particularly when fuel prices were volatile, now believes the conditions are appropriate and the window of opportunity is now to pass on the benefits to Ghanaians who rely daily on both electronic and informal transport systems.
He therefore believes the “wait and see” approach adopted must come to an end for Ghanaians to also benefit from the economic gains.
“Where we are now, we at COPEC would agree that the time is ripe. We are in a proper time for transport operators to now look at reducing transport fares by a minimum of 10-15% to be able to ease the pressure on commuters,” he declared.
He explains that, “cumulatively, we have recorded in excess of 18% reductions since the start of the year, when fuel, petrol, diesel, LPG were all trading above 15 a litre. If today, you are doing almost 3 Cedis of that, you’ve seen something significant happen. And so they don’t have an excuse at this point to say they won’t reduce transport fares.”
“Any excuse at this point to hold transport fares at the levels they are, I don’t think will be justified or sustainable,” he said emphatically.
He further emphasized that reduced transport fares will have a ripple effect through the economy, giving traders like market women the justification to also lower prices of goods and services, thereby stimulating spending and easing inflationary pressure on households.
The Executive Director also acknowledged the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA)’s appeal to its members to review prices downward, noting that the fuel price reduction could also affect costs of spare parts and lubricants, further supporting price adjustments across sectors.
