(A) License and service required.
(1) No person or entity shall transport or offer to transport a passenger for a fare in any vehicle required to be licensed as a taxicab unless the person or entity first obtains a company license pursuant to this section. All taxicab companies shall render service to all members of the public desiring to use taxicabs to travel to and from all locations within the city. Each company application shall be accompanied by a copy of the certificate issued by the Indiana Secretary of State demonstrating the company name and form of organization, and shall contain the business address and registered agent.
(2) Holders of taxicab company licenses shall maintain a properly zoned office with a telephone line answered 24 hours a day for the purpose of receiving calls and dispatching cabs. The telephone line must be answered by a dispatcher or other person who is not operating a taxicab at the time he or she is answering the telephone or dispatching taxicabs. No taxi company may accept calls or dispatch taxicabs from a taxicab or from a property that is not properly zoned. They shall answer all calls received by them for services inside the corporate limits of the city as soon as they can do so. If the services cannot be rendered within a reasonable time, they shall then notify the prospective passengers how long it will be before the call can be answered and give the reason therefor. The failure of a company license holder to have a telephone call for service answered within in a reasonable time shall result in the issuance of fines, license suspension or revocation, or other sanctions as provided in this chapter.
(B) Refusal of service. Any taxicab company or taxicab driver that refuses to accept a call anywhere in the corporate limits of the city at any time when such company or driver has available taxicabs, or who fails or refuses to give overall taxicab service, shall be deemed a violator of this section. The license granted to such violator may be revoked or suspended, or the violator may receive a citation. However, any taxicab driver or company shall have the right to refuse service to a drunk or disorderly person, or to a person who has previously refused to pay the legal fare, or to a person who has threatened or menaced the taxicab driver. Any taxicab company shall also have the right to make reasonable policies and rules for the safety of its drivers and passengers, so long as it does not engage in illegal discrimination or refuse to render overall service.
(C) Manifest required; retention. Every taxicab driver shall maintain a daily manifest upon which are recorded all trips made each day, showing time and place of origin and destination of each trip and amount of fare. Every taxicab driver shall give all completed manifests to the operator at the conclusion of each tour of duty. The forms for each manifest shall be furnished to the driver by the operator and shall be of a character approved by the Clerk-Treasurer. The company license holder shall provide the manifest to the City Clerk-Treasurer, Lawrenceburg Police Department or City Attorney’s Office within 24 hours of any request made in writing via mail, facsimile or electronic correspondence. The failure of a driver or a company holder to comply with this subsection may result in fines, suspension or revocation of the license held by the driver, the company, or both.
(Ord. 24-2016, passed 11-21-16)