The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government must reduce taxes and other levies on petroleum in order to cushion consumers from the rising cost of fuel, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers-Ghana (COPEC-GH) has admonished.

The Chamber’s call comes in the wake of fuel price increments by some Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) of between two and 10 per cent after the second pricing window for January 2017.

Some additional tax components have been identified as a major contributing factor in the price hikes.

Notable among the taxes is a 17.5 per cent Special Petroleum Tax, which is part of the Energy Sector Levy. The levies were introduced by the previous government in order to pay debts.

However, the Executive Secretary of COPEC-GH, Duncan Amoah, felt it was time the taxes were reviewed due to the burden it places on consumers.

"Government should immediately, without wasting further time, remove the SPT [Special Petroleum Tax] and then also other taxes," he told Joy FM on Wednesday, January 18.