The application for and issuance of any such certificate of convenience and necessity or application for a permit to abandon its service, provided for in Sections 37-2-4 and 37-2-5, shall be under such rules and regulations as to hearing and other matters as the commission may, from time to time, prescribe. Upon the receipt of any such application for such certificate or permit, the commission may cause notice thereof to be given the chief executive officers of the municipality or municipalities affected, and such notice may be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in each section affected.