Concerned Delivery Riders Association rallies against government’s planned courier license fee
The Concerned Delivery Riders Association (CDRA) has kicked against a new directive by the government requiring individual riders to obtain courier delivery licences for GH¢1,000.00 per motorbike, describing the move as unfair and unnecessary.
The riders, who staged a protest at the premises of Asaase Radio in Cantonment, Accra, on Wednesday, 21 August 2025, argued that the policy threatens their already precarious means of livelihood.
“We are not against regulation, but this new fee is simply not practical,” said Ankamah Nana Yaw Barimah Ebenezer, leader of the group.
“Every rider already pays five percent of each delivery to fleet partners like FH and Express Street Fleet. That money covers insurance, compliance, and registration. Why should we pay another GH¢1,070 on top of that?, the group leader quizzed”
Nana Yaw Barimah Ebenezer explained that most riders operate under established fleet partners, who are already registered with courier and ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Yango.
These platforms he noted, only accept fleets with at least ten motorbikes before onboarding, making individual licences redundant.
“This is double regulation,” Ebenezer added. “Our fleet partners have done the necessary registrations, and we operate through them. Imposing another licence fee on us as individuals will collapse our work.”
The riders warned that if the directive is enforced, many of them will be forced out of business. “Some of us are students, some are family men, and this is our only source of income,” one protester said.
“If the government goes ahead with this policy, a lot of riders will lose their jobs and be left with no alternative,” Nana Yaw Barimah Ebenezer told Asaase Radio amidst laud support from members of the association who beseeched Asaase Radio’s premises.
The association to thisend, is calling on the Mahama administration to scrap the individual licensing requirement and instead strengthen existing regulatory systems through the fleet partners.
“We are appealing to government to listen to us. We are already contributing to the economy, and delivery services have become a lifeline for many people. Please don’t destroy our work with unnecessary costs,”Nana Yaw Barimah Ebenezer remarked.
Background
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in December 2023, brought to the attention of the general public, especially ride hailing vehicle owners (Uber, Yango, Bolt etc) that, pursuant to Section 22 of Regulations 2016, LI 2244, any commercial vehicle owner that earns income from the operation of a commercial vehicle shall pay income tax on quarterly basis.
The GRA also pointed out that sections 1, 33 and 35 of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915) as amended, gives the Commissioner General the authority to give written directives, require any taxpayer to provide information or connect their digital system to the Commissioner General’s monitoring platform for the purposes of establishing the correct taxes payable to the State.
GRA therefore entreats all ride hailing companies that operate in Ghana to update their digital platforms to require evidence of payment of Vehicle Income Tax (VIT) for both existing and new vehicles. The GRA to this end, entreated ride hailing companies to follow the underlisted guidelines:
Entities are to demand a softcopy of the VIT sticker.
Entities are to validate the authenticity of stickers with the GRA.
Entities are to submit the list of all vehicles on their platform quarterly to GRA.
The GRA also asked all ride hailing companies to note that the requirements will take full effect on Monday, January 1, 2024.
“In this regard, all owners of ride hailing vehicles that operate in Ghana are to carry out a onetime registration of their vehicles at any GRA office to enable them make payment for VIT using the shortcode *222#.” the GRA further directed.
