We don’t have mandate to regulate fuel prices – NPA

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has dismissed calls for the dissolution of the authority over the rampant increase in fuel prices.

A former Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby in an interview on Eyewitness News called for the dissolution of the NPA if it can’t regulate fuel price hikes to protect consumers.

According to him, the NPA must control the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to follow the laws on deregulation to help control fuel prices.

“NPA is the regulator, why do you call them regulators if you can’t do anything? Then dissolve them. Why do we call them regulators, they are to make sure that the interest of the consumer and the businesses are both protected, you can’t have it one way.”

But the NPA in a reaction to the call said the mandate to determine fuel prices has been taken away from them after the act was amended in 2015.

Speaking to Citi Business News, the Communications Manager at NPA, Mohammed Abdul Kudus, stressed that the mandate of the authority is to regulate the activities of players in the space and not to only determine prices at the pumps.

“It appears that people are still living in the past of what they knew the NPA to be prior to 2015 because the determination of the pricing has actually been taken away from NPA, and so we virtually can be called a Police and that still cloaks us with the responsibility of regulation.”

“Regulation is just not about the determination of the prices but the regulation also involves how the prices are arrived at and that is one critical role that we play at NPA.”

On Tuesday, fuel prices hit an all-time high with Petrol selling at about GHS18 per litre and diesel retailing at over GHS 23 a litre.