Section 36-60-25. Certificates of public necessity and convenience and medallions for taxicabs

   (a) Each county and municipal corporation may require the owner or operator of a taxicab or vehicle for hire to obtain a certificate of public necessity and convenience or medallion in order to operate such taxicab or vehicle for hire within the unincorporated areas of the county or within the corporate limits of the municipal corporation, respectively, and may exercise its authority under Code Section 48-13-9 to require such owners or operators to pay a regulatory fee to the county or municipal corporation. The General Assembly finds and declares that any county or municipality exercising the powers granted in this Code section is legitimately concerned with the qualifications and records of drivers of taxicabs and other vehicles for hire; with the location, accessibility, and insured state of companies operating taxicabs and other vehicles for hire; and with the safety and comfort of taxicabs and other vehicles for hire. Without limitation, each such county or municipality may exercise the powers granted in this Code section by ordinance to the same extent as the ordinances reviewed by the Georgia Court of Appeals in the case of Hadley v. City of Atlanta, 232 Ga. App. 871, 875 (1998), and each certificate of public convenience and necessity issued under those ordinances shall remain in full force and effect.

(b) Each certificate of public necessity and convenience or medallion issued at any time by a county or municipal corporation shall be fully transferable pursuant to a purchase, gift, bequest, or acquisition of the stock or assets of a corporation to any person otherwise meeting the requirements of the applicable local ordinance. Each such certificate of public necessity and convenience or medallion may be used as collateral to secure a loan and each lending institution making such a loan shall have all rights of secured parties with respect to such loan.

Code 1981, § 36-60-25, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 677, § 1/HB 519.