(a) Applicants must be licensed to engage in the business of towing by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. Applicants who apply to be in the ROTOW program on or after March 1, 1993 must be licensed to engage in the business of towing for a period of not less than one year immediately prior to the date of their application. In addition, all tow truck operators employed by the licensee must be licensed as such by the Department and comply with all applicable laws and rules.
(b) Applicants can only make application to participate in one primary zone and one geographic adjacent zone. The applicant's business premises must be located within the primary zone. Such premises shall be under the exclusive control of the applicant, shall not be used by any other towing company and shall consist of a location that is open to the public, where towing company personnel are employed, calls requesting towing service are received and towers are dispatched, and where all records required by Subchapter 31 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the New York City Administrative Code are maintained.
(c) Applications for the ROTOW program will be accepted by the Department on an ongoing basis. Upon approval, new participants will initially be placed at the bottom of the rotation list for the zone for which they have been accepted.
(d) In the event that a sufficient number of qualified, licensed companies do not make application for participation in a particular zone, the Commissioner may modify the proposed zones and assign qualified companies to such zones.
(e) Applicants for ROTOW must be willing and able to provide towing services, in the primary and adjacent zone for which they have applied to participate, minimally on a five-day, twenty-four-hour a day basis. Applicants who will be available to respond to ROTOW calls for fewer than seven days a week shall notify the Department in writing and shall specify in such written notification which days of the week they shall be available. Furthermore, any change in the days of availability shall be submitted to the Department in writing at least thirty days prior to the effective date thereof. If no written notification is received regarding availability for fewer than seven days per week, applicants shall be deemed to have elected to accept ROTOW calls seven days a week.
(f) Applicants for ROTOW must immediately respond to a rotation call they accept. To be eligible to participate in a particular zone, an applicant must be able to provide a tow truck at the vehicle's location within thirty minutes after notification by the Police Department. If no ROTOW participant is available in the zone where the vehicle is located, the Police Department may call a ROTOW participant in the adjacent zone.
(g) Applicants must have a minimum of two (2) tow trucks for the zone for which they have applied to participate.
(h) Applicants must own or possess and have at their immediate disposal equipment to tow vehicles with damaged or missing wheels.
(i) Applicants must own, lease or sublease premises, which provide either indoor, or lighted and fenced outdoor, storage facilities. The storage facilities must have a locked gate and be suitable for the storage of vehicles. Applicants who apply to be in the ROTOW program on or after December 6, 1994 must demonstrate that the towing company owns, leases or subleases its business premises by providing the Department with a deed if the applicant owns such premises or by providing the Department with the actual lease or sublease agreement if the applicant leases or subleases such premises. The minimum footage requirements for storage of ROTOW vehicles is 1,600 square feet over and above any storage requirements for the Directed Accident Response Program. All vehicles towed pursuant to ROTOW must, at all times, be secured at the premises address of the responding company, or at its auxiliary storage facilities if such facilities have been approved by the Commissioner for storage of DARP vehicles pursuant to 6 RCNY § 2-371(n). At the request of the owner of a disabled vehicle, his or her agent or an authorized insurance company representative, a vehicle being stored at the applicant's auxiliary storage facilities shall be immediately produced at the applicant's premises address and no fee other than a fee authorized by 6 RCNY § 2-368 may be imposed for such production of such vehicle at the applicants premises address. Common or shared business premises with another towing company, including storage facilities and auxiliary storage facilities they share with another company other than a towing company by a physical separation, such as a fence. No participant shall release a vehicle to another towing company unless that towing company is licensed or otherwise exempt from the licensing provisions of Subchapter 31 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the New York City Administrative Code, or that towing company is based outside of New York City and thereby is not required to be licensed pursuant to such provisions of the New York City Administrative Code.
(j) Participants may withdraw from the ROTOW program thirty days after they have notified the Department, in writing, by regular mail, of their intention to end their participation.
(k) [Reserved.]
(l) Any participant who has failed to respond within 30 minutes to a call on three or more occasions within any 180 consecutive days may be suspended and/or removed from participation in the ROTOW program. Repeated refusal to accept rotational calls will also be a basis for suspension and/or removal from participation in the ROTOW program.
(m) Participants must abide by the Police Department's written orders, which establish the operating procedures for this program.
(n) Participants must abide by all lawful instructions, directions and requests of the police official in charge of the scene, incident, or location to which it or its representatives respond.
(o) Participants must record in a bound record book, or in an electronic format as prescribed in subparagraphs ii or iii of paragraph 3 of subdivision c of 6 RCNY § 2-378, all calls for service, all occasions when towing service was rendered and the reason for refusal of any call to which they were unable to respond. If the participant elects to use a bound record book, the inside cover of the book kept for this purpose shall contain the ROTOW towing company's business name, premises address, towing zone number(s) and the dates the book covers. Each double page shall be consecutively numbered and must contain the following information:
Date and time Police Department call was received
Caller: rank, name
Precinct voucher number
Precinct
Name of person who accepted call
Disposition: Accepted/refused
Reason for refusal
Location vehicle towed from
Time tow was completed
Storage location vehicle towed to
Tow fees/Storage fees
Total charges Fees paid by credit card: Y/N
Redemption date Vehicle disposition
(p) Participants must be open for redemption of vehicles towed in the ROTOW program during the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. In addition, they must be open for redemption from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on either Saturday or Sunday, as such participant has informed the Department in writing. In all instances, participants shall make vehicles immediately available for redemption to the owner of the disabled vehicle, his or her agent, or an authorized insurance company representative. The participant may be closed for redemption on New York City public holidays.
(q) Participants shall not release vehicles towed in the ROTOW program unless the person redeeming the vehicle presents sufficient proof that he or she is the owner of the vehicle or is the owner's agent. Sufficient proof of ownership includes the vehicle's New York State Department of Motor Vehicles registration receipt (or equivalent out-of-state registration) or certificate of title. If the vehicle is being redeemed by an insurance company as agent for the owner, the insurance company shall present a notarized "receipt for release form" on the insurance company's letterhead signed by a representative of the insurance company. Upon presentation of sufficient proof of ownership and payment of the authorized charges, the disabled vehicle must be immediately released. Payment of authorized charges may be made in legal tender, by a credit card in accordance with generally accepted business practices, by a first party insurance check or in any other form acceptable to the licensee. At any time when a participant is required to be open for redemption pursuant to subdivision (p) of this section, any vehicle owner or agent shall be permitted to inspect his or her vehicle and remove items of personal property contained therein whether or not the payment for towing and storage has been made. No charge shall be assessed to the vehicle owner or the vehicle owner's agent for such inspection. The participant shall be given a receipt for any property removed from a vehicle while it is in the custody of the participant.
(r) Participants who transfer an unclaimed vehicle into the custody of the Police Department Property Clerk shall be entitled to charge the Police Department amounts not in excess of those listed in § 20-519(c) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York.
(s) During the period commencing on the eighth day after the vehicle is removed to such storage facilities and ending on the thirtieth day after such removal, vehicles that have not been claimed must be transferred by the ROTOW participants into the custody of the Police Department Property Clerk. A ROTOW participant may continue to store at such ROTOW participant's storage facilities a vehicle that has been claimed by an owner or other person and shall be entitled to charge for such continued storage and storage rates ROTOW participants are entitled to charge owners or other persons claiming such vehicles pursuant to § 20-519(c)(1) of the New York City Administrative Code where such owner or such other person has claimed such vehicle before the end of the thirtieth day after such vehicle was towed and has entered into an agreement with such ROTOW participant for continued storage of such vehicle. An agreement for continued storage of a vehicle by a ROTOW participant may include provision for storage of such vehicle beyond the end of the thirtieth day after such vehicle was towed by such ROTOW participant.
(t) The following schedule of rates shall apply for vehicles towed under the Rotation Towing Program:
(1) Rates paid to towing company by owners or other persons claiming a vehicle:
(i) $125.00 flat rate towing fee for the towing of a vehicle registered at a weight of ten thousand pounds or less; $140.00 for the towing of a vehicle registered at a weight of more than ten thousand pounds.
(ii) $25.00 per/day storage for first three days.
(iii) $27.00 storage thereafter up to the maximum of thirty days.
(2) An additional charge of $50.00 may be charged for unusual recoveries requiring two tow trucks. Written authorization of the investigating police officer is required in the "Remarks" section of the invoice to substantiate the need for a second tow truck in unusual recovery circumstances.
(3) The special rate for this program shall be prominently posted within the participant's premises on a sign no less than 14 inches by 20 inches in size.
(4) Rates paid to towing company by the Police Department:
(i) $60 flat rate transfer fee for the unclaimed vehicles towed to the property clerk's facilities, plus tolls, when applicable.
(ii) $5.00 per/day storage for the first three days.
(iii) $8.00 per/day storage thereafter up to the maximum ten days.
(u) After due notice and opportunity to be heard, the Commissioner may disqualify any towing company participating in the ROTOW program from continued participation in such program for violation of any of the provisions of § 20-519 of the New York City Administrative Code or any rule promulgated thereunder or upon the occurrence of any one or more of the conditions set forth in Subchapter 31 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the New York City Administrative Code which constitute grounds for suspension or revocation of any license issued under such subchapter; provided, however, that the Commissioner, for good cause, may, prior to giving notice and an opportunity to be heard, temporarily suspend a towing company from participation in the ROTOW program for up to ten days. Notice of such suspension shall be served on the towing company. The Commissioner shall provide the towing company with the opportunity for a hearing within ten days after the notification of suspension, after which the Commissioner shall forthwith make a determination as to whether such suspension should continue and the length of such suspension, and in addition may impose any penalty or sanction authorized by Subchapter 31 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the New York City Administrative Code.
(v) Participants shall take reasonable care to prevent damage to or loss of a customer's vehicle or personal property continued therein.
(w) Unless otherwise provided by law or by rule, the term "applicant" shall include (1) persons who are applying to participate in the ROTOW program; and (2) ROTOW participants who are currently applying for renewal of their license to engage in the towing business.
(x) A participant who is to relocate his or her business premises from the location which has been approved by the Department for participation in the ROTOW program shall remain in the ROTOW program only if:
(1) Such participant first notifies the Department in writing of the address of its new business premises and of the effective date of such relocation. Such written notification shall be made not less than 15 days before the effective date of such relocation;
(2) The Department, upon receiving timely relocation notification, determines that the new location qualifies the participant to continue in the ROTOW program and furnishes such participant a contingent approval to relocate its premises subject to such conditions as are specified therein; and
(3) The participant provides a sworn statement and such other proof as the Department may require that such participant has fully and completely complied with each condition specified in such contingent approval that relates to ROTOW program requirements that can be fulfilled only after such business premises are relocated, such as, but not limited to, the required lettering on tow trucks, the place where the ROTOW log book is to be kept, and the place where calls to the business are answered. Failure to provide such a sworn statement, and such other proof as the Department requires, not later than 15 days after the effective date of such relocation shall void such contingent approval to relocate, and the participant shall be immediately removed from the ROTOW program.