1699 DEFINITIONS

1699.1 The terms “cashless payment,” “modern taximeter system,” “MTS,” “MTS unit”, “payment service provider”, “PSP”, and “taximeter fare” shall have the meanings ascribed in Chapter 4 of this title.

1699.2 The term “sedan” shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Chapter 12 of this title.

1699.3 The terms “digital payment system,” and “DPS” shall have the meanings ascribed to them in Chapter 14 of this title.

1699.4 The term “person” and “license” shall have the meanings ascribed to them in Section 3 of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act, effective October 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 1204; D.C. Official Code § 2-502).

1699.5 The following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed:

“Affiliated” - common ownership.

“Associated” - a voluntary relationship of employment, contract, joint venture, or agency. For purposes of this chapter, an association not in writing shall be ineffective for compliance purposes.

“Booked” - agreed and accepted by the customer.

“Customer” - a person that requests public vehicle-for-hire service, including a passenger, or any other person that requests service on behalf of a passenger.

“Dispatch” - booking public vehicle-for-hire service through an advance reservation consisting of a request for service from a person seeking service, an offer of service by the dispatch service, an acceptance of service by the person seeking service, and an acknowledgement by the dispatch service that includes an estimated time of arrival of a booked vehicle.

“Dispatch or payment solution” - any reasonable technology solution that allows a DDS to provide taxicabs with digital dispatch service, digital payment service, or both.

“Digital dispatch” - dispatch via computer, mobile phone application, text, email, or Web-based reservation.

“Digital dispatch service” or “DDS” - a business that provides digital dispatch

of taxicabs, sedans, or both.

“Digital payment” - a non-cash payment processed by a digital dispatch service and not by the vehicle operator, such as a payment by a payment card (a credit or debit card), processed through a mobile- or Web-based application. A digital payment does not mean a “cashless payment” as such term is defined in Chapter 6 of this title.

“Digital services” - digital dispatch or digital payment for a public vehicle-for-hire.

“Dispatch service” - a business that offers telephone or digital dispatch.

“District enforcement official” - a public vehicle enforcement inspector or other authorized official, employee, or general counsel of the Office, or a law enforcement official authorized to enforce a provision of this title.

“Passenger surcharge” - the passenger surcharge required to be collected from passengers and remitted to the District for each trip in a taxicab or sedan, as required by Chapters 4, 6, and 8, for taxicabs, and by this chapter and Chapter 14 for sedans.

“Substantial change” - (1) a replacement of an existing DDS dispatch or payment solution for taxicabs, or digital payment system for sedans, or (2) a material change in the DDS’s manner of compliance with § 1603.6 (a)-(d) (other than a change in non-regulated rates and charges established by the DDS) or with § 1603.7. A substantial change does not include an update to an application or to an operating system, a service update, or other routine modification or incremental improvement of an existing DDS dispatch or payment solution for taxicabs, or digital payment system for sedans.

“Surcharge bond” - a security bond of fifty-thousand dollars ($50,000) payable to the D.C. Treasurer that is effective throughout the period when the dispatch service has operating authority and for one (1) year thereafter.

“Telephone dispatch” - dispatch via telephone.

“Telephone dispatch service” - a business that provides telephone dispatch for taxicabs.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 61 DCR 4430 (May 2, 2014).