Government suspends implementation of tow levy

[dropcap]G[/dropcap]overnment will not implement the mandatory towing levy which was scheduled to commence on July 1, 2017.

A statement signed by the Minister of Transport Kwaku Ofori Asiamah explained that government took the decision after “extensive consultations between the Minister of Transport and stakeholders in the transport sector.”

In 2012, Parliament passed the Legislative Instrument 2180 [ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATIONS, 2012]which in regulation 102 [3] imposes a mandatory levy on all owners and persons in charge of motor vehicles, for the purpose of towing broken down or disabled vehicles on Ghana’s roads.

The announcement however by National  Road Safety Commission (NRSC) that the LI will be implemented from July 1 , 2017 was met with intense criticism and calls for a review of the policy.

The statement indicated that “upon consultations consequent to the calls, 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 regulating service providers.”

Suspension of implementation of tow tax

Government had plans of implementing the tow tax but subsequently suspended it after the Roads and Transport Committee of Parliament met with the Road Safety Commission, the DVLA and other stakeholders over the matter.

The Ranking Member on the Committee, Kwame Agbodza had explained that the committee wants to probe the issues surrounding the implementation and possibly recommend the recall of the Legislative Instrument supporting the fee.

Some MPs including the Deputy Minority Leader, James Avedzi Klutse, had earlier called for the policy to be scrapped following these reactions.

But Osei Owusu said critics of the levy lack understanding of the issue.

Prior to the suspension, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei-Owusu, had described as narrow-minded, arguments against the mandatory towing fee.

In a Citi News interview, Mr. Osei-Owusu however argued that, the policy is in the supreme interest of road users after research showed that a huge number of road accidents are caused by broken down vehicles.

The NRSC was expected to begin a nationwide towing programme in July 2017, to ensure that all vehicles that breakdown on highways were cleared off the roads.