Section 31-819. CONSUMER SERVICE AND PASSENGER RELATIONS

 

819.1No person shall solicit business for taxicabs on public streets or space, within or on the grounds of railroad stations, airports, bus stations, buildings or sidewalks.

 

819.2No taxicab operator, or any person on his or her behalf, shall solicit business on behalf of any hotel, restaurant or other establishment, or attempt to divert patronage or business from any hotel, restaurant or other establishment in any manner whatsoever.

 

819.3No taxicab operator shall loiter with a taxicab around or in front of any hotel, theater, public building, or place of public gathering, except to take on or discharge a passenger.

 

819.4Taxicab operators shall, at all times when on duty and not engaged, furnish service on demand to any person, except as provided for in § 819.5.

 

819.5No public or private vehicle-for-hire operator shall refuse to transport a person while holding his or her vehicle-for-hire, unless:

 

(a)  Previously engaged;

 

(b)  Unable or forbidden by the provisions of this title to do so;

 

(c)  The vehicle-for-hire operator has reason to believe the person is engaged in a violation of law;

 

(d)  The operator has cause to fear injury to his or her person, property, or vehicle; or

 

(e)  The passenger(s) is engaged in lewd, lascivious, or sexual behavior in the vehicle-for-hire at any time while the trip is in progress, after the operator has asked the passenger(s) at least once to stop the conduct.

 

819.6Any taxicab occupying a taxicab stand shall be considered to be held for hire.

 

819.7Any taxicab being operated on the streets shall be considered held for hire when:

 

(a)Not occupied by a passenger; or

 

(b)Not displaying an "On Call," "Off Duty," or "Out of Service" sign as authorized by the Commission's rules and regulations.

 

819.8For the purposes of this chapter, a taxicab is not considered for hire when the following occurs:

 

(a)The operator ceases to hold his or her vehicle for hire and the "Off Duty" sign is displayed in accordance with the provisions of § 820;

 

(b)The driver is on call, has a previous appointment, or is engaged by the hour for the carriage of passengers or making an emergency delivery of a parcel or package and is displaying the "On Call" sign in compliance with the Commission's rules and regulations;

 

(c)The taxicab is loaded to the designed capacity of the vehicle;

 

(d)The taxicab is disabled or faced with an emergency and the "Out of Service" sign is displayed in accordance with the Commission's rules and regulations; or

 

(e)During group riding and the passengers occupying the taxicab have not consented to the operator engaging in shared riding.

 

819.9Except in shared riding, the operator shall not ask the destination of the passenger until the passenger is in the taxicab. A dispatcher shall not ask the destination of a passenger. If the dispatcher learns the destination of a passenger, that dispatcher shall not then convey the destination when dispatching an operator to pick up the passenger unless requested to do so by the passenger or the passenger has an emergency.

 

819.10Once a trip has been accepted by a public or private vehicle-for-hire operator through a digital dispatch service, the vehicle-for-hire operator shall not fail to pick up the passenger or to complete the trip after the passenger has been picked up except for a bona fide reason not prohibited by § 819.5 or other applicable provision of this title.  A violation of this subsection shall be treated as a refusal to haul pursuant to § 818.2 or 819.5.  In addition, a violation of § 818.2 may be reported to the D.C. Office of Human Rights.

 

819.11Each operator of a wheelchair accessible vehicle shall ensure that wheelchair passengers are properly secured using the vehicle’s wheelchair securement system, by providing assistance as necessary or if requested by the passenger.  Notwithstanding the provisions of § 819.10, no operator shall be required to transport a wheelchair passenger who refuses to be properly secured by the vehicle’s wheelchair securement system.

 

 

authority

Sections 8(c) (1), (2), (3), (4), (7), (10), (11), (14), (16), (18), (19) and (20), 14, 15, and 20j of the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission Establishment Act of 1985 (“Establishment Act”), effective March 25, 1986, as amended by the Vehicle for Hire Innovation Amendment Act of 2015 (“Vehicle-for-Hire Act”), effective March 10, 2015 (D.C. Law 6-97; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-307(c)(1),(2),(3), (4) (7), (10), (11), (14), (16), (18), (19) and (20), 50-313, 50-314, and 50-329 (2012 Repl. & 2015 Supp.)).

source

Final Rulemaking published at 37 DCR 3595, 3620 (June 1, 1990); as amended by § 3 of the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission Establishment Act of 1985 Amendment Act of 1994, effective September 22, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-171; 41 DCR 5149 (August 5, 1994)); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 9970, 9981 (August 17, 2012); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 62 DCR 8061 (June 5, 2015); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 338 (January 8, 2016); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 3747 (March 11, 2016).