Any person shall be deemed to have engaged in the business of operating a vehicle for hire if he or she keeps or maintains any vehicle for the purpose of engaging in a vehicle for hire business or if he or she accepts or permits any employee to accept any money or other thing of value from any passenger for transportation in a vehicle. Accepting a passenger under the guise that the transportation is purely gratuitous and that no payment of compensation or consideration is required shall not be deemed to remove the transaction from the effect of this subchapter. In any case where the driver or any person in charge of any vehicle does in fact accept any money or other thing of value, even though the money or thing of value is accepted or purported to be accepted as a gift or present or purported gift or present, the gift or present, or the purported gift or present, shall constitute prima facie evidence of an intent to accept compensation or hire for transportation.
(1957 Rev. Ords., § 8.703; 1992 Code, § 43-23) (Ord. 84-82, passed 8-9-1982)