Passengers and operators of the popular ‘pragia’ tricycle in Tamale, Northern Region are at each others’ throats after the latter increased fares by 50 percent.
Passengers who could not take this ‘illegality’ have refused to pay this unapproved fares with Pragia operators also refusing to reduce the fares.
Reporter of Happy98.9FM’s affiliate station in Tamale, Abubakar Sadique of Neesim FM shared this information in an interview on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show with Don Kwabena Prah.
He shared that this confrontation had resulted in some Pragia operators refusing to work.
Shedding more light on the issue was Mohammed Awal, Union Treasurer of the Pragia Association who said, “Some of us are still working. To be sincere, the increase in fuel prices has given us a lot of problems. Now, we are fighting with our passengers because we have adjusted our fares a little. We have increased our old prices by 50 percent”.
Mohammed admitted that the fare increment has not been officially sanctioned but the Union deemed it necessary as the increase in fuel prices affected them drastically.
“This increment has been sanctioned by the Union and we are going to keep charging our new fare regardless of the disagreements with our passengers. They want us to charge the old prices but we won’t”, he emphasized.
He told Don Kwabena Prah that the Union had never increased lorry fares since 2018 “and this increment is a cumulative one and we will keep charging that. We will not reduce it even a little because of the new fuel prices”.
Not only Pragia operators are charging more but Taxi drivers have also increased their fares by 50 percent.
Government increased fuel margins by 17 pesewas as part of the COVID-19 levy which affected fuel prices. After constant complaints from the populace and advocacy groups, the Government through the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) announced a reduction in fuel margins from 17 pesewas per litre to 9 pesewas.
Regardless of road transport unions not finalizing discussions with the Ministry of Transport on the upwards revision of lorry fares, some commercial transport operators have increased fares.
By: Joel Sanco