4681916 Emergency rules to ensure drivers are promptly paid revenue owed to them by PSPs and taxicab companies.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TAXICAB COMMISSION

 

NOTICE OF EMERGENCY RULEMAKING

 

The District of Columbia Taxicab Commission (Commission), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 8(c)(3) and (7), 14, 20a, and 20g of the Taxicab Service Improvement Amendment Act of 2012, effective October 22, 2012 (D.C. Law 19-184; to be codified at D.C. Official Code §§ 50-307(c)(3) and (7), 50-313, 50-320, and 50-326), hereby gives notice of its intent to adopt amendments to Chapters 4 (Taxicab Payment Services) and 5 (Taxicab Companies, Associations and Fleets) of Title 31 (Taxicabs and Public Vehicles for Hire) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).

 

These rules will: clarify the time period by which a payment service provider (PSP) must pay each taxicab company or independent owner with which the PSP is associated the portion of such PSP’s revenue to which the taxicab company or independent owner is entitled; increase to one thousand dollars ($1,000) the fine for a PSP’s failure to timely make such a payment; require taxicab companies that contract with PSPs to pay associated taxicab operators the portion of the revenue received from the PSP to which the operator is entitled within twenty-four (24) hours or one (1) business day of when the revenue is received by the taxicab company from the PSP; and establish a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a taxicab company’s failure to timely make such a payment within twenty-four (24) hours, or one (1) business day.

 

Pursuant to 1 DCMR § 311.4(e), emergency rulemakings are implemented when required to immediately preserve the public peace, health, safety, welfare, or morals. These emergency rules are necessary because there is an immediate need to preserve and promote the safety and welfare of the District’s taxicab industry, which is jeopardized by late, reduced, and denied payments to taxicab owners and operators that use the modern taximeter systems (MTSs) provided by payment service providers (PSPs). The failure to timely and fully pay all taxicab owners and operators the revenue generated through their use of MTSs prevents them from obtaining the protections contemplated by the Commission, in addition to negatively impacting residents and visitors by hindering the service improvements intended by the D.C. Council.

 

The emergency rulemaking was adopted on December 11, 2013 and took effect immediately,  and shall remain in effect for sixty (60) days after the date of adoption (expiring February 9, 2014), unless earlier superseded by an amendment or repeal by the Commission, or the publication of a final rulemaking, whichever occurs first. 

 

Title 31, TAXICABS AND PUBLIC VEHICLES FOR HIRE, of the DCMR is amended as follows:

 

Chapter 4, TAXICAB PAYMENT SERVICES, is amended as follows:

 

Section 411, PENALTIES, is amended as follows:

 

 

 

Subsection 411.2 is amended as follows:

 

Paragraph (c) is amended by striking the period at the end of the paragraph and inserting the phrase “, or” in its place.

 

A new Paragraph (d) is added to read as follows:

 

 (d)                  A violation of § 408.13 by failing to pay each taxicab company or independent owner with which it is associated the portion of such PSP’s revenue to which the taxicab company or independent owner is entitled within twenty-four (24) hours or one (1) business day of when such revenue is received by the PSP.

 

Chapter 5, TAXICAB COMPANIES, ASSOCIATIONS AND FLEETS, is amended as follows:

 

Section 509 is amended to read as follows:

 

509                  PROMPT PAYMENT TO TAXICAB OPERATORS

 

509.1               Except where a taxicab company and taxicab operator otherwise agree, each taxicab company that contracts with a payment service provider (PSP) for modern taximeter system (MTS) units in its associated vehicles shall pay each of its associated operators the portion of the revenue received from the PSP to which the associated operator is entitled within twenty-four (24) hours or one (1) business day of when the revenue is received by the taxicab company from the PSP. Taxicab companies shall have until the close of business December 18, 2013, to fully comply with this subsection.

 

509.2               A taxicab company shall be subject to a civil fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the first violation of § 509.1, a civil fine of two thousand dollars ($2,000) for the second violation, and a civil fine of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for the third violation and each subsequent violation.