The Ashanti Regional Chairman for the co-operative Transport Union has commended the NPP government for discontinuing the Mandatory Towing levy which was to begin from July 1, 2017.
The Regional Chairman, Mr. Isaac Kwabena Boateng in a telephone conversation with Ahotor FM’s morning show host, Emmanuel Quarshie (Hit man) on Monday 21th August, 2017 stated that the government has taken a wise decision by discontinuing the mandatory towing levy.
“This levy was introduced by the previous NDC government, which was seriously opposed by almost all transport unions and motorist in the country”
“As a listening government we expected them to halt this levy and true to their words they did listened, we are grateful to the government”
It can be recalled that the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) introduced the service in order to rid the country’s roads of broken down vehicles that are abandoned and which cause accidents.
As part of the law, vehicle owners and motorcyclists will pay compulsory annual fees, tied to the acquisition of road worthy certificate, to cater for towing services.
Fees per year for both commercial and non-commercial vehicles, depending on tonnage, range from GHC20 to GHC200.
The NRSC awarded the contract to the Road Safety Management Limited (RSML) a subsidiary of the Jospong Group owned by Businessman Joseph Siaw Agyapong.
The Road Safety Management Company Limited and its allied service providers will enjoy 85% of the charges while the DVLA and Police Service share 5% each. Ministry of Finance, as well as NRSC, will also be allocated 2.5% each from the proceeds.
There has been public outcry and calls for government to review the mandatory towing levy policy following an announcement by the implementing agency, the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), that the legislative instrument (LI) which was passed in 2012 would be implemented from July 1, 2017.
The statement explained that upon consultations consequent to the calls for a review of the policy, government has decided to seek a review of parts of the law specifically to achieve the following objectives:
- Removal from the law, the concept of mandatory towing levy on all owners and persons in charge of motor vehicles and trailers.
- The role of government in the provision of towing services will be limited to only licensing and licensing and regulating service providers.
Daniel Koranteng Kwagyiri|ahotoronline.com|Ghana
