(a) No operator shall engage in the business of operating one or more taxicabs within the Municipality without first procuring and maintaining in full force and effect a taxicab operator' s license.
(b) Application for an operator's license shall be made to the City Manager registering each vehicle to be used for such purpose.
(c) Such license shall be issued annually for the current year or part thereof ending December 31.
(d) The cost of such license shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each vehicle used in such business. If issued between July 1 and December 31 in any year, the fee shall be one-half of the amount stipulated.
(e) The license so obtained shall be displayed in a visible place on each taxicab and shall not be transferable from one operator to another or from one taxicab to another.
(f) Such license may be suspended by Council at any time for violation of any section of this chapter, or conviction within any court of competent jurisdiction for the violation of any of the ordinances of the Municipality, or the laws of the State, relating to motor vehicles, their operation and equipment, or State and Federal laws relating to illegal traffic in intoxicating liquors or any immoral or unlawful enterprise, It will be unlawful for the operator to engage in further operation until a new license has been secured for the following year. Council may permanently revoke an operator's license in the event of a subsequent conviction of the same operator for a violation of the same provisions of the law as in the first conviction.
(g) Every vehicle so used upon the streets of the Municipality, for the purpose of carrying passengers for hire shall at all times be kept clean and in mechanically good condition and shall be subject to inspection in such manner and at such times as may be prescribed by Council. No vehicle so used or maintained shall be operated as a taxicab unless it is approved as safe and sanitary by Council, or an inspector designated by them.
(h) It is the privilege of Council to limit the issuing of operator's licenses to new operators applying for licenses or the expansion of established operators now holding licenses. An applicant for such operator's license must show just and reasonable cause for such expansion.
(i) It is the privilege of Council to establish maximum or minimum rates of fares being assessed by operators under licenses approved by Council should they deem such action necessary.