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The Sekondi-Takoradi branch of the Ghana Online Drivers Association (GODA) has urged service providers to reduce their commission charges per trip on online drivers.

According to them if the service providers reduce their percentage on charges, it would not affect both the providers and driver, “You won’t make losses if fares reduce to 5% per trip”, they said.

The Sekondi-Takoradi Online Drivers made this known to the media on Monday when over 100 drivers running those services in the Western Region embarked on a sit-down strike to protest the unfair treatment meted out to them by their partners on commissions.

They said the Ride-Hailing Apps Service providers charged as high as 20 per cent as commission from the online drivers on each trip they made using their platform.

National Public Relations Officer (PRO) for GODA, Albert Bentum, said they do not need many people to embark on a demonstration since the services they offered were unique.

Mr Bentum said the strike action in Sekondi-Takoradi was against the high commission, fares, and security among others.

He said online drivers including Bolt, Uber, Black Ride, and other ride-hailing services faced many challenges even though they buy their own cars, fuel, data, spare parts, call credit and undertake maintenance on the cars making them unable to earn enough revenue to break even.

He called on other drivers who were yet to enroll onto the platform of GODA to join since there was strength in numbers.

Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer for the Online Drivers in the Western Region, Kojo Williams, said he was sure that the protest would receive a positive response from their partners.