Angry Gas Warn Akufo Addo Gov’t to Scrap New “Insensitive” Taxes

An angry Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marking Companies Association of Ghana has demanded the immediate withdrawal of a curious Cylinder Recovery Levy (CRM) introduced clandestinely to spike the rates of gas in Ghana.

These are a group of businesses who are supposed to profit from the new levies, but they have refused to charge the extra fees and pass on the cost to consumers, rather, they have slammed the government and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for being insensitive.

The NPA in a recent circular dispatched to industry players ordered them to start charging an extra13.5 pesewas on each kilogram of LPG from April 1.

 “Kindly note that the revised Ex-pump Price Template effective 1st April 2020 includes the following: Fuel Marking Margins has been revised fromGHP3/lt to GHp4.5/ Lt and introduction of Cylinder Recovery Margin (CRM) of GHp12.5/kg for LPG,” Richard Opoku Nyantakyi, a Pricing Officer at the NPA wrote to OMCs in the circular intercepted by Whatsup News.

In a statement issued today April 3, 2020, the association said its members consisting of LPG marketing companies are vehemently opposed to the new order to increase gas prices.

According to the association, “…the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian whose source of income is threatened due to the lockdown of most businesses will be worsened if this levy is allowed to stay.”

 “We have been at the forefront of efforts appealing to government to remove all existing taxes on levis from LPG to make the product more affordable to the ordinary Ghanaian consumer. It will, therefore, be ironic and indeed highly unprincipled for us to support the introduction of the new levy,” the statement read.

The LPG marketers association say they are convinced that the NPA is merely passing on list laziness to Ghanaians because they are unable to find innovative ways of raising funds.

“We know the NPA need money to effectively roll out the CRM policy, but we are resolute in our conviction that our regulator must find more innovative means to raise the needed revenue.

Meanwhile, the plight of the NPA appears to have worsened as it pushes to use Covid-19 to fleece consumers. The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has threatened legal action against the NPA for sneaking in the CRM into LPG prices.

“this is very interesting, I do think the NPA itself appreciate the illegality that it is actually engaged in currently. For you to introduce any form of levy, there is a legal regime that one must follow,” the Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah told Accra-based Joy News in an interview.

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