The Car Rental Association of Ghana (CRAG) is calling on the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) to sanitize the car rental industry.
According to them, the industry is being taken over by unregistered car rental dealers who undercut rates used for renting.
“You can count about 150 car rental companies. Half of them are not properly registered and they undercut the rates so it makes it difficult for those of us trying to do the right thing” President of CRAG, Seth Yeboah Ocran bemoaned in an interview with Citi Business News.
Their actions, he said affects the car rental operations as it causes prices to go up.
“Seriously most companies don’t even see why they should even be part of the association or even register with GTA because it is more of a disincentive for half of us out there doing business every day. They undercut the rate and you cannot match them because they are not paying the right taxes” he explained.
Mr. Ocran argued that the unregistered car rentals do not pay taxes, leading to loss of revenue to the state.
“They don’t have much overheads. We are made to pay one percent tourism levy, charge VAT among others which makes it look like we are expensive so it becomes a disincentive for doing the right thing. It’s like register it properly and charge because you have to pass on the cost if not you will be out of business. Meanwhile there is someone parked by you who does not pay taxes so it becomes a huge challenge for members, he explained.
Mr. Ocran said that the GTA must identify the culprits and bring them to book.
“I think we can work something out if government will meet us halfway. It will go a long way to also help us reduce our cost and that can drive tourism” he added.
–
By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana.