SEC. 71.22. TAXIMETERS.

   (Amended by Ord. No. 187,416, Eff. 3/2/22.)

   (a)   A Taxicab Operator may use any type of device or technology approved by the Division of Measurement Standards to calculate fares, including the use of Global Positioning System metering, provided the device or technology complies with Section 12500.5 of the California Business and Professions Code and with all regulations established pursuant to Section 12107 of the Business and Professions Code, as well as other state laws. The installation, operation and maintenance of a taximeter shall be in compliance with state law, City ordinances, and Board Rules. Taximeters shall be maintained at all times to be accurate and in good working order. It shall be unlawful to install or program a taximeter in a manner that makes it possible to tamper with the rate setting mechanisms. It shall be unlawful to attach any equipment to a taximeter or the taximeter’s wiring harness that has not been approved by the state or the City. It shall be unlawful to possess a fraudulent or false taximeter.

   (b)   Each Taxicab Operator shall maintain a taximeter or a taxi soft meter approved by the Department capable of printing, emailing, or texting a receipt for all trips provided. For the purposes of this section, a taxi soft meter is a type of taximeter that uses technologies such as GPS or on-board diagnostics to calculate fares based on time and distance.

   (c)   All taxicab fares and rates shall be set in compliance with state law.

SEC. 71.23. CIRCUITOUS ROUTES.

   Any driver employed to carry passengers to a definite point shall take the most direct route practicable that will carry the passengers safely and expeditiously to their destination.

SEC. 71.24. EXCESS CHARGES.

   (Amended by Ord. No. 165,491, Eff. 3/19/90.)

   No person shall charge, collect, demand, receive or arrange for any compensation for the service of any vehicle defined in Section 71.00 in this City used for the conveyance of passengers, any amount, rate, or compensation different than the charges or rates established by the Board.

SEC. 71.25. AUTHORITY OF BOARD TO ESTABLISH RATES.

   (a)   The Board shall have the authority to establish and prescribe by Board order the rates to be charged for transportation by the motor vehicles mentioned in Section 71.00. Any Board Order fixing rates must be approved by the City Council, by ordinance, before taking effect. However, the Board may by Board Order establish rates to be effective on final publication and without subsequent ratification by the City Council within the range of maximum and minimum rates established by ordinance.

   (b)   No provision of this section shall prevent the Board from approving and establishing rates outside any ordinance-prescribed maximum and minimum rates, subject to approval by the City Council in accordance with the provisions of Section 22.484 (g) of the Los Angeles Administrative Code. (Amended by Ord. No. 173,193, Eff. 5/29/00, Oper. 7/1/00.)

   (c)   No rate shall be placed in effect, charged, demanded or collected for passenger transportation service until the Board, after hearing upon its own motion, or upon application, or upon complaint, shall have found and determined said rate to be just, reasonable non- discriminatory, non-preferential, and not in violation of any provision herein contained or any provision of law; nor until said rate to be placed in effect, charged, demanded or collected shall have been approved and established.

   (d)   The Board shall have power, upon a hearing upon its own motion or upon complaint, to investigate a single rate or fare, or the entire schedule of rates in effect, charged, demanded or collected for transportation, service, and to establish a new rate or schedule of rates in lieu thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to empower the Board to approve or establish any rate, or any schedule of rates for passenger transportation service that will, by means of rebate, discount, sale of script books, excursion or commutation tickets, or in anywise, violate the minimum or maximum rate or the provisions contained in this section or any provision of law.

   (e)   No provision of this article shall be deemed to prevent the Board upon notice and after hearing, from prescribing boundaries and establishing rates to be charged for point-to-point trips within such prescribed boundaries, subject to Paragraphs (a) and (b) above.

SEC. 71.26. TRANSPORTATION REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT TRUST FUND.

   (Added by Ord. No. 170,068, Eff. 11/18/94.)

   All monies collected for monetary penalties from taxicab operators, monetary penalties from individual permit holders or any other fines, penalties and bond forfeitures collected pursuant to this article shall be placed in a separate fund entitled “Transportation Regulation and Enforcement Trust Fund”, to be administered by the Department of Transportation. All monies paid into the fund and any interest earned thereon shall be used for Citywide regulation and enforcement, in excess of that authorized in the Department’s annual budget, of this article as it relates to operators, vehicles, and drivers providing both legal and illegal (“bandit”) transportation services in the City.