1. Declaration of Purpose: The purpose of this Ordinance is to regulate taxicabs and vehicles for hire within the Town of Hanover.

2. Title: This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Taxicab Ordinance of the Town of Hanover."

3. Authority: RSA 47:17.

4. Definition: Every motor vehicle having a manufacturer's rated capacity of not more than seven (7) passengers used or to be used for the conveyance of persons for hire from place to place within the Town of Hanover shall be deemed a taxicab within the meaning of this Ordinance and shall be subject to the provisions of this Ordinance. This Ordinance shall not apply to motor vehicle operations subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of New Hampshire or by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

5. License and Certificate: No person shall operate or cause to be operated a taxicab unless licensed as provided in this Ordinance. No license shall be issued unless and until the Town of Hanover has issued a certificate that public convenience and necessity require the operation of the taxicab. Application for this certificate shall be made on forms provided by the Town and shall set forth the name and address of the applicant, the trade name under which the applicant does or proposes to do business, the number of vehicles the applicant desires to operate, a description of each vehicle and such other facts as the Town may require.

6. License and Fee: Upon presentation of certificate of public convenience and necessity within thirty days from the date of its issue of a schedule of rates to be charged for the conveyance of passengers within the Town, and of a certificate of insurance as provided in paragraph 7 of this Ordinance, the Town may, upon payment of the license fee provided for in this paragraph, issue to the applicant a license for any motor vehicle described in the certificate of public convenience and necessity. The term of the license shall be until December 31 next following the date of issue and the fee for the license shall be five dollars ($5.00) for each vehicle, except that any license granted after June 30 of any year shall be three dollars ($3.00).

7. Insurance: Before a license is issued, every applicant for a license to operate a taxicab or taxicabs shall furnish a certificate of insurance covering the term of the license. The certificate shall be issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in the State of New Hampshire, and the certificate shall evidence the issuing by the insurance company of a liability insurance policy or policies upon each taxicab in a form satisfactory to the Town. The policy or policies shall indemnify the applicant against damages for injury to person and property arising out of the operation of the taxicab or taxicabs in a principal sum not less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for bodily injury or death resulting from any one accident and not less than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) for bodily injury or death to any one person arising out of any one accident, and for not less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for damages resulting from damage to property arising out of any one accident.

8. Inspection: Every licensee under this Ordinance shall present any taxicab operated by him to the Chief of Police, or his nominee for inspection whenever required by the Chief of Police.

9. Display of Rates: Upon the issuance of a license under this Ordinance the licensee shall receive a card on which shall be plainly printed the rates to be charged for the carriage of passengers with the Town. The card shall be conspicuously displayed in every taxicab so that it can be seen by any passenger by day or by night. Failure to display such card or demanding payment of any amounts in excess of or below the rates on the card shall constitute a violation, punishable as provided in paragraph 13, and shall be sufficient grounds for revoking any license.

10. Passengers: No driver of a taxicab shall carry any other person than the passenger first employing him without the consent of the first passenger, and no driver shall refuse to carry any passenger by reason of his or her unwillingness to consent to the carriage of any other passenger or passengers at the same time.

11. Revocation: Violation of any of the provisions of the highway laws of the State of New Hampshire or of this or any other ordinances or by-laws of the Town regulating traffic, or failure to keep in force the liability insurance as provided in paragraph 7, shall be grounds for the revocation of a license granted under this Ordinance.

12. Revocation for Conviction: The Town may revoke licenses granted under this Ordinance at any time for conviction of any crime, including any violation of any provision of this Ordinance by the driver of any taxicab, or whenever the Town shall find after a hearing that the public good will be promoted by a revocation.

13. Penalty: Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this Ordinance for which no penalty is prescribed by statute shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined not more than twenty dollars ($20.00).

Source: Bylaws and Regulations of Village Precinct of Hanover, Article V-A.
Adopted June, 1980.

jordshan ord8 (taxicabs)