The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPECGH), Duncan Amoah has expressed displeasure about the proposed plan by the National Road Safety Commission(NRSC) that effective July 1st 2017, all vehicle owners will be required to pay a mandatory road safety fee each time they go to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to renew their road worthy certificate.

According to the NRSC, the plan is to help promote safety by way of providing a fast and reliable towing service for the NRSC to immediately tow off broken down vehicles to prevent accidents.

Speaking to Kasapa News, Duncan Amoah said the fees expected to be paid by drivers is a way of extorting money from Ghanaians because the NRSC is failing to do its job properly.

Owners of motorbikes are expected to pay GH¢10 annually while owners of non-commercial vehicles are expected to pay GH¢20.

For commercial vehicles, taxi owners will pay GH¢40, mini buses will pay GH¢80, while heavy duty trucks will pay between GH¢80 and GH¢200 annually, depending on their tonnage.

In addition, foreign vehicles that are not required to go to the DVLA for road worthy certification would be made to pay the required fees at the points of entry.

Duncan Amoah indicated that the fees will be increased over the period by the NRSC if Ghanaians keep mute about the matter.

He said commercial vehicle owners will eventually burden passengers with huge transport fares since they will also be looking for a way to take the burden off their shoulders.

Below is a statement issued by COPECGH

CHAMBER OF PETROLEUM CONSUMERS

REVIEW OR HALT PROPOSED FLAT TOWING CHARGES IMMEDIATELY

The chamber takes a very serious notice of an announcement of a proposed programme by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to slap a flat charge on all vehicle owners across the country effective 1st of July 2017.

Per this new programme; The various categories of vehicle owners are expected to cough up some additional monies whenever they are registering a new car or go  for road worthy renewal from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority  (DVLA).

The new programme puts a charge of Ghc20 on all private vehicle owners, Ghc40 on commercial vehicles and taxis, motorbikes will pay Ghc10, mini buses will pay Ghc80 whiles trucks are charged between Ghc80-200 depending on tonnage.

These charges for an initial concept might seem ignoble and paltry but will sure become a further burden on the operations and cost of commercial transport owners who will invariably pass same unto the commuting public to pay in the not too distant future.

In effect though its applicable on paper to only vehicle owners, the entire population who depend on public and commercial transport systems for their daily activities will end up paying for same.

Whiles admitting abandoned vehicles on our roads pose a huge risk and challenge which sometimes result in fatal accidents, one would expect that these vehicle owners and their drivers who engage in such practices be surcharged for the towing of same, the new programme is seeking to rather punish everyone for the apparent negligence of these reckless few who abandon their vehicles anywhere anytime.

As is mainly the practice in most parts of the world, sanctions do apply strictly to such persons who abandon their vehicles in the middle of the road but the reverse seems the case the case with this new policy.

The structure of this new extortionist policy certainly attempts to cure the symptoms rather than the substantive issue. Sanctions to those specific road users who do not take any time or resources to to maintenance on their vehicles thereby leading to such rampant breakdowns of these vehicles is rather sublty being shifted to the public to bear.

With over 2 million vehicles in Ghana currently, this new policy whose yearly collections is expected to be over and above Ghc100 million is simply going to serve as a cash cow for those behind this and not neccesarily cure the problem of having some reckless drivers abandon their vehicles in the middle of the road.

We are by this serving notice, that the chamber together with the Ghana Truck Operators Association, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), the General Transport and Petroleum Workers Union and other notable organisations will fiercely resist any such extortionist attempts to force such insensitive charges down the throats of vehicle owners and by extension the general public without a thorough and proper review of same instead of this current proposed wholesale approach.

We also use this opportunity to remind the National Road Safety Commission it can only apply such taxes only with due approval by the parliament of Ghana.

Thank you.

Signed

 

Duncan Amoah

Executive Secretary

Copec Ghana

Cc:

Ghana Private Road Transport Union ( GPRTU )

Industrial and Commercial Workers Union ( ICU )

Association of Ghana Industries ( AGI )

General Transport and Petroleum Workers Union( GTPWU)

Ghana Truck Operators Association

By: Leticia Ohene-Asiedu