Dee-Dee Cab, Inc. v. Pennsylvania PUC

• Decision Date: 25 February 2003
• Citation: 817 A.2d 593
• Parties: DEE-DEE CAB, INC., t/a Penn-Del Cab, Petitioner, v. PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION, Respondent.
• Court: Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

817 A.2d 593

DEE-DEE CAB, INC., t/a Penn-Del Cab, Petitioner, v. PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION, Respondent.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued November 5, 2002.

Decided February 25, 2003.

Michael F. Henry, Philadelphia, for petitioner.

John E. Herzog, Harrisburg, for respondent.

Before SMITH-RIBNE R, J., PELLEGRINI, J., and FLAHERTY, Senior Judge.

OPINION BY Judge SMITH-RIBNER.

Dee-Dee Cab, Inc., petitions for review of an order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) that denied Dee-Dee's petition for reconsideration of a previous order denying Dee-Dee's application to expand its taxicab service to encompass a larger area in the City of Philadelphia, more specifically the Philadelphia International Airport including airport terminals. Dee-Dee presents three questions for review: Dee-Dee questions first whether the Act commonly known as the "Medallion Act," 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 2401-2416, precludes expansion of authority in Philadelphia for a grandfathered, non-medallion taxicab service; second, whether the PUC's decision was arbitrary and capricious because it was not supported by substantial evidence; and third, whether the PUC's decision violated Dee-Dee's due process and equal protection rights.

I

Dee-Dee is a taxicab company operating out of Media, Delaware County, with authority to provide service in parts of Delaware County and Philadelphia. On February 6, 2001, Dee-Dee filed an application with the PUC requesting authority to provide expanded service in Delaware County and a part of Philadelphia, encompassing the Philadelphia Airport.¹ Eight "medallion" taxicab companies with authority to provide citywide service in Philadelphia filed protests opposing Dee-Dee's request. However, none of the eight protestants attended or otherwise participated in the hearing held on June 14, 2001, prompting the administrative law judge to dismiss the protests and to certify the matter to the PUC for a decision based solely on Dee-Dee's application and twenty-two supporting affidavits of public need.

By order entered January 24, 2002, the PUC granted Dee-Dee's request for expanded authority in Delaware County but denied its request for expanded authority in Philadelphia. The PUC held that the Medallion Act prohibited the PUC from granting expanded authority in Philadelphia to a non-medallion company; that to grant Dee-Dee's request for expansion of its partial authority in Philadelphia would implicitly exceed the certificate of public convenience and corresponding medallion limit; that a grant of the request would permit Dee-Dee to introduce an unlimited number of non-medallion taxicabs into service at the Philadelphia Airport and create an uneven playing field for the medallion holders; and that to allow expansion by a non-medallion company would undermine the regulatory system embodied in the Medallion Act. Dee-Dee filed a petition for reconsideration, asserting first that because the Medallion Act applies only to taxicab companies providing citywide service, it does not prohibit the PUC from granting expanded authority to a company that will operate in only a limited part of Philadelphia.² Second, Dee-Dee asserted that no evidence had been presented by the protestants or the PUC supporting the PUC's conclusion that the expanded authority would be contrary to the public interest, and Dee-Dee had submitted supporting affidavits of public need. Thus the PUC's finding that Dee-Dee's application was contrary to the public interest was unsupported by substantial evidence and was in violation of its due process rights. In a supplemental petition, Dee-Dee indicated that in February 1999 the PUC had granted to Bucks County Services, a non-medallion taxicab company, expanded authority to operate in Philadelphia similar to that which Dee-Dee was now requesting. In a four-to-one decision entered April 26, 2002, the PUC denied Dee-Dee's petition for reconsideration, reiterating that the Medallion Act prohibited it from granting non-medallion companies expanded authority in Philadelphia, that the requested expansion was not in the public interest and that allowing non-medallion companies to expand into Philadelphia would undermine the Medallion Act's regulatory system.³

II

Before this Court, Dee-Dee first argues that the Medallion Act does not prohibit the PUC from granting expanded authority to non-medallion taxicab companies to operate in Philadelphia. Dee-Dee cites Section 2402 of the Act, 66 Pa.C.S. § 2402, pointing out that the medallion system was created "to provide holders of certificates of public convenience which authorize citywide call or demand service the opportunity to upgrade and improve the operations of taxicabs." Because its certificate of public convenience authorizes it to operate in only a limited part of Philadelphia, Dee-Dee argues that it is not subject to the requirements of the Medallion Act. Dee-Dee maintains that in Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission v. Genco Services, Inc., t/a Cheldon Radio Cab Co., Inc., 76 Pa. P.U.C. 174 (1992), the PUC concluded that the Medallion Act applies only to holders of certificates of convenience which authorize citywide service in Philadelphia. Dee-Dee also cites Application of Bucks County Services (No. A-00111913, filed February 17, 1999), in which the PUC granted expanded operating authority in Philadelphia to a non-medallion taxicab company. According to Dee-Dee, the PUC's decision to deny Dee-Dee's request contradicts not only the Medallion Act's language but also the PUC's own policy.

The Medallion Act, enacted by the Act of April 4, 1990, P.L. 93, was intended to upgrade and improve taxicab service in Philadelphia:

§ 2402. Medallion system created

There is hereby created a medallion system in cities of the first class in order to provide holders of certificates of public convenience which authorize citywide call or demand service the opportunity to upgrade and improve the operations of taxicabs. Each current holder of a certificate of public convenience which authorizes citywide call or demand service in cities of the first class is entitled to apply to obtain a medallion from the commission at its offices, within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter, for an initial fee in an amount to be determined pursuant to the requirements of section 2414 (relating to budget and fees).... The medallion shall be marked with the taxicab number assigned to the corresponding certificate of public convenience.

66 Pa.C.S. § 2402. Each medallion issued under this section must be affixed to a vehicle approved under a corresponding certificate of public convenience to operate as a taxicab in Philadelphia. 66 Pa.C.S. § 2403(b); 52 Pa.Code § 30.2. Each medallion authorizes the identified vehicle to operate as a taxicab for the fiscal year in which the medallion is issued, at the expiration of which it may be reissued yearly to the holder in accordance with the Medallion Act and the PUC's regulations. 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 2404(a), 2406; 52 Pa.Code §§ 30.2, 30.11. In addition, the holder of a certificate and medallion must submit to extensive regulations governing, among other things, annual vehicle inspections, complaint procedures and driver qualifications and certification.⁴

In regard to the issue presented in this appeal, the Medallion Act limits to 1600 the number of certificates and corresponding medallions that may be issued by the PUC for taxicabs in Philadelphia. See 66 Pa.C.S. § 2407. Within limits set by the legislature, the PUC may increase the number of taxicabs providing service in Philadelphia, but it may do so only by increasing the number of certificates and accompanying medallions for taxicabs providing citywide service. 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 1103(c)(2), 2407. Pursuant to Section 2404(d), 66 Pa.C.S. § 2404(d), the only exception to the general rule against non-medallion taxicabs operating in Philadelphia pertains to vehicles operated under a certificate of public convenience authorizing call or demand service elsewhere in the Commonwealth, which may transport persons and property (1) to cities of the first class in accordance with the service authorized under the certificate of public convenience and (2) from any point in a city of the first class to any point beyond the city if the request for service is received by call to its radio dispatch service.

When the language of a statute is free from ambiguity, any further deliberation as to its meaning is unwarranted. See Section 1921(b) of the Statutory Construction Act, 1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(b); Meier v. Maleski, 670 A.2d 755 (Pa.Cmwlth.1996), aff'd, 549 Pa. 171, 700 A.2d 1262 (1997). To the contrary, when the words of a statute are not explicit, a court attempting to ascertain legislative intent may consider such matters as the occasion and necessity for the statute, the object to be obtained, the consequences of a particular interpretation and administrative interpretations of the statute. 1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(c); Meier. In Pennsylvania the appellate courts have adopted a "strong deference" standard for reviewing agency interpretations of statutes, which they are charged to enforce. Scanlon v. Department of Public Welfare, 739 A.2d 635 (Pa.Cmwlth.1999). An agency's interpretation of a statute for which it has enforcement authority will not be reversed unless it is clearly erroneous. Armstrong Communications, Inc., v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 768 A.2d 1230 (Pa.Cmwlth.2001).

III

In this appeal, the Court need not struggle to reconcile the Medallion Act's language with the interpretation adopted by the PUC, for the Act's language is sufficiently clear for the Court to conclude, first, that the Act was intended to be a comprehensive system of regulation for taxicabs operating in Philadelphia, and second, that the regulatory system so established in 1990 does not provide for the expansion of authority for taxicab companies operating outside the scope of the Medallion Act....