(a) A licensee licensed under this chapter or Chapter 9-115 of this Code, or a taxi dispatcher, only as provided in Section 9-112-600(i) of this Code, may charge passengers at a higher fare rate than the regular fare rate displayed in the licensee's Internet-enabled application or digital platform, or, if the dispatched vehicle is a taxicab, at a rate higher rate than the rate provided in Section 9-112-600, only if such licensee or such licensee's dispatch complies with all of the following requirements:
(i) the licensee or the licensee's dispatch, through the licensee's or the dispatch's Internet-enabled application or digital platform and e-mail accounts of the licensee's subscribers, provide public notice of the time period when the higher fare rate would apply; and
(ii) the licensee's or the licensee's dispatch Internet-enabled application or digital platform clearly provides to a customer requesting a trip the option to obtain the total reasonable fare estimate of the trip in a range expressed in dollars and cents, in addition to any applicable rate multiplier. The on-screen prompt for the choice to decline the fare estimate shall be smaller in size than the on-screen prompt to accept that estimate. For purposes of this section, the commissioner is authorized to regulate, by rule, the permissible range of fare estimate that shall be provided pursuant to this section; and
(iii) no fare greater by 20 percent than the fare estimate provided pursuant to subsection (a)(ii) shall be charged for the trip, unless the customer changes the destination or route from that initially requested; and
(iv) the customer requesting the ride expressly agrees to the fare estimate unless, pursuant to subsection (a)(ii), the customer has chosen to decline the estimate offered when accepting the ride on the licensee's or the licensee's dispatch Internet-enabled application or digital platform.
(b) The commissioner is authorized to regulate, by rule, the amount of increase in fare rate from the regular fare rate displayed in the licensee's Internet-enabled application or digital platform and the manner of fare amount calculation for providing a prearranged transportation service. In addition, the commissioner is authorized to require licensees licensed under this chapter or Chapter 9-115 of this Code to comply with nationally recognized technical and technological standards applicable to fare amount calculation for providing a prearranged transportation service, as determined by the commissioner.
(c) If applicable law allows taxicab licensees to charge at a higher rate than the rate provided under Chapter 9-112 of this Code, this section applies to the regulation of such rate to the extent such regulation is allowed under the applicable law.
(Added Coun. J. 5-28-14, p. 82771, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 10-28-15, p. 12062, Art. XI, § 4)