§ 80-17 Operations – Rates, Charges and Payment.
RCNY § 80-17
(a)No Overcharges.
(1)A Driver of a Taxicab or Street Hail Livery must not charge or attempt to charge a fare above the Commission-approved rates, including Commission-approved Flex Fare Rate Schedule. This includes a fare in a Street Hail Livery for a Hail Trip or a fare for any trip initiated or accepted through an E-Hail Application, including a Flex Fare Trip.
(2)A Driver of a For-Hire Vehicle or Street Hail Livery on Pre-Arranged Trips must not charge a Passenger more than the rate, fare quote, or fare estimate provided to the Passenger by the Base pursuant to 35 RCNY § 59B-23 (unless the trip destination is changed by the Passenger after the initial fare quote or fare estimate).
(3)A Driver must not impose or attempt to impose any additional charge for transporting a person with a disability, a service animal accompanying a person with a disability, or a wheelchair or other mobility aid.
(4)A Driver must not require a person with a disability to be accompanied by an attendant. However, if a person with a disability is accompanied by an attendant, the Driver must not impose or attempt to impose any additional charge for transporting the attendant. 35 RCNY § 80-17(a)(1)-(4)Mandatory penalties as set forth in 35 RCNY § 80-02(e).Appearance NOT REQUIRED (5) A Driver must give the correct change to a Passenger who has paid the fare. 35 RCNY § 80-17(a)(5)Fine: $50 if plead guilty before a hearing; $100 if found guilty following a hearing.Points: 2Appearance REQUIRED (6) A Driver must not ask a Passenger for a tip or indicate that a tip is expected or required. 35 RCNY § 80-17(a)(6)Fine: $50Appearance NOT REQUIRED (b) Non-Paying Customers. If a Taxicab or Street Hail Livery Passenger refuses to pay the metered fare, the Driver of the Taxicab or Street Hail Livery must place the meter in the off or "Vacant" position, record the amount of fare on the Taximeter onto the Trip Record through the Technology System, or onto the written Trip Record if the Technology System is not working, and proceed directly to the nearest police precinct, present the facts to the police and follow their instructions for resolving the dispute.
(c)Currency. A Taxicab or Street Hail Livery Driver must accept United States currency as fare payment. 35 RCNY § 80-17(c)Fine: $50Appearance NOT REQUIRED (d) Making Change.
(ii)Transmit the relevant information to an electronic database for entry on the electronic trip record or make an appropriate written trip record entry.
(iii)Proceed to the nearest location where he or she may reasonably expect to obtain change. 35 RCNY § 80-17(d)Fine: $25Appearance NOT REQUIRED (e) Must Accept Credit/Debit Card Payment.
(i)All Taxicabs are required to be equipped with a Technology System and Drivers must accept a Passenger's choice to pay by credit/debit card.
(iv)A Driver of a Taxicab or Street Hail Livery must not accept credit/debit card payments through any device other than the Vehicle's Technology System or an approved E-Hail App.
(v)If a Taxicab or Street Hail Livery customer's effort to pay by debit/credit card at the end of the trip is prevented not by the Vehicle's Technology System, but because the communication network is unable to process debit/credit card payments at that time, the Driver must offer the customer the option of either paying cash or having the Driver continue to a location where the wireless payment system can communicate with its network. 35 RCNY § 80-17(e)(1)(i)-(v)Fine: $100Appearance NOT REQUIRED (vi) No Mark-up for Credit Payment. A Driver of a Taxicab or Street Hail Livery must not charge any additional fee (mark-up) to any Passenger for credit/debit card transactions for any Trip in a Taxicab or for any Hail Trip in a Street Hail Livery. 35 RCNY § 80-17(e)(1)(vi)Fine: First violation: $200.Second violation: $300.Third violation: $500.In addition to the penalty payable to the Commission, the administrative law judge may order the Driver to pay restitution to the Passenger, equal to the excess amount that was charged to the Passenger.Appearance REQUIRED (2) For-Hire Vehicle Credit/Debit Card Payment.
(g)MTA Tax. The MTA Tax must be charged on any trip in a Taxicab or on any Hail Trip in a Street Hail Livery that starts in New York City and ends in any of: (1) New York City.
(5)Putnam County.
(6)Rockland County.
(7)Suffolk County.
(8)Westchester County.
(h)Taxicab Improvement Surcharge. For each trip in a Taxicab, the Driver must remit the Taxicab Improvement Surcharge to the Taxicab Medallion Owner. 35 RCNY § 80-17(h)Fine: $50 per occurrenceAppearance NOT REQUIRED (i) Street Hail Livery Improvement Surcharge. For each Hail Trip in a Street Hail Livery, the Driver must remit the Street Hail Livery Improvement Surcharge to the Street Hail Livery Licensee. 35 RCNY § 80-17(i)Fine: $50 per occurrenceAppearance NOT REQUIRED (j) Taxicab and Street Hail Livery E-Payments.
