The National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has justified the collection of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) margin, Fuel Marking Margin, and the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) levies.

The NPA said the collection of these levies is derived from the NPA’s Regulations 2012, Legislative Instrument (LI) 2186, passed by Parliament.

A Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson had threatened to take action against the NPA for failing to seek parliamentary approval before the collection of the levies.

He said these levies had been increased astronomically and illegally, leading to the rampant increase in fuel prices.

“Levies such as BOST margin, UPPF, and fuel marking margin are not governed by any legislation. In fact, since the NPP took office, the BOST margin has been increased by 200%. The UPPF margin has increased by 167%. The fuel marking margin has also increased by 233%. ”

But the NPA in a statement dismissed this claim, insisting that it is acting “legally as specified in the Prescribed Pricing Formula Regulations 2012. L.I 2186”

It said the levies “were not just increased in 2021 but have been increased periodically since 2009 to this present time, due in part to the increases in the cost of operations.”

“It is without a doubt that the absence of these margins in the price build-up would have hindered the achievement of the objectives for which these margins, and the Authority shall indicate these margins to take care of the above-intended costs accordingly. The UPPF, BOST, and Fuel Marking Margins charged in the price build-up are not illegal charges as asserted by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson,” it added.