Charge codes 177
Sub-chapter 59A holds the rules for owners of for-hire vehicles (car service, black car, limousine and app-based cars): licensing, insurance, inspections, vehicle condition, required decals and items, and owner conduct. It replaced the vehicle-owner parts of old Chapter 6 in April 2011 and is still in force.
During any trip between NYC and an issuing jurisdiction (a nearby county that licenses its own for-hire cars), the trip record required by §59A-19(b) must be kept in the vehicle.
35 RCNY §59A-30(b)(1)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
On request, the trip record must be shown to police or peace officers, or others authorized by TLC or the other county.
35 RCNY §59A-30(b)(2)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
Paragraph (b)(3) says that not presenting the trip record when an authorized person asks is presumed evidence of unlicensed operation. So besides the trip-record fine, the trip may be treated as unlicensed for-hire activity.
35 RCNY §59A-30(b)(3)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
Section 59A-31 covers FHV equipment: working heat and air conditioning, no roof light (except approved Staten Island cars), no taximeter (with narrow exceptions), a distress light in liveries, and limits on dispatch devices and tablets. The summons did not name a subsection.
35 RCNY §59A-31TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
The FHV owner is responsible for making sure the vehicle has working heating and air conditioning.
35 RCNY §59A-31(a)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
A for-hire vehicle must not have a roof light, except an approved one on a car that works mainly in Staten Island and is affiliated with a Staten Island base. A roof light makes an FHV look like a taxi.
35 RCNY §59A-31(b)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
No for-hire vehicle can have a taximeter, except a wheelchair-accessible livery in TLC's accessible dispatch program or a street hail livery (green cab). Meters are for street-hail vehicles only.
35 RCNY §59A-31(c)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
Livery vehicles must have a help or distress signaling light system that meets TLC's specifications (§59C-03). The license is suspended until a TLC condition-corrected form shows it was fixed.
35 RCNY §59A-31(d)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
Paragraph (d)(1) requires livery vehicles to be equipped with a help or distress signaling light system built to TLC's §59C-03 specifications, so a driver in danger can signal for help. The license is suspended until fixed.
35 RCNY §59A-31(d)(1)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
Until about 2018, paragraph (d)(2) exempted vehicles affiliated with black car or luxury limousine bases from the distress-light rule. A charge citing it generally means the officer found a car without the light that did not qualify for the exemption. Today the rule simply applies to livery vehicles (§59A-31(d)(1)).
Former 35 RCNY §59A-31(d)(2)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (archived July 2017 copy)
Until it was repealed, §59A-32(a) required livery vehicles to have a partition separating the driver from rear-seat passengers, unless they had the exemption safety package (emergency radio or phone, distress light and camera). The current rule book lists this section as repealed.
Former 35 RCNY §59A-32(a)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (archived July 2017 copy)
Under the repealed partition rule, a livery could skip the partition only with all three safety devices. Item (i) was an FCC-licensed two-way radio with an emergency button, or a cell phone with emergency dialing. A charge here means that device was missing.
Former 35 RCNY §59A-32(b)(1)(i)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (archived July 2017 copy)
Under the repealed partition rule, a livery without a partition had to have all three safety devices. Item (iii) was an approved in-vehicle camera system; a charge here means the camera was missing.
Former 35 RCNY §59A-32(b)(1)(iii)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (archived July 2017 copy)
From 2011 to about 2020, §59A-33(a) required a livery's in-vehicle camera system, when used as a safety device, to meet TLC specs, be installed by an authorized installer and work properly. In the current rule book, (a) is the rule requiring 'This vehicle is equipped with camera security' decals on the rear windows. Which one applies depends on the summons date.
35 RCNY §59A-33(a)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
Each FHV with an in-vehicle camera must display decals on each rear passenger window, readable from outside, saying 'This vehicle is equipped with camera security. You will be photographed.' This was §59A-33(b) until the camera-system rule was removed; it is now §59A-33(a).
Former 35 RCNY §59A-33(b)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (archived July 2017 copy)
Section 59A-34 is 'RESERVED (Taxicab Specific Vehicle Equipment)' and contains no rule for for-hire vehicles, so it cannot be violated as written. The code was most likely a typo for a nearby equipment section such as §59A-31 or §59A-33.
35 RCNY §59A-34 (reserved)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
If penalty points are imposed after an FHV license was renewed, for a violation that happened before renewal, they are added to the vehicle's earlier total. If that brings the total to four or more points, the FHV license is revoked. This is a revocation step, not a separate fine.
35 RCNY §59A-35(b)TLC Rule Book, Chapter 59 (Sub-chapter 59A: For-Hire Vehicle Owners)
Fines and points are shown only where they were checked against the official penalty text. Counts come from NYC Open Data — OATH Hearings Division Case Status; some dates in that data are entry errors. Look up your summons to see the charges on it, or scan it for a plain-English explanation.
TLC Help is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission or OATH. Explanations on this site are general information, not legal advice. Legal representation is provided by independent attorneys and OATH-registered representatives in our network.