(a)(1) No person, association, limited liability company or corporation shall operate a motor vehicle in livery service until such person, association, limited liability company or corporation has obtained a permit from the Department of Transportation, specifying the nature and extent of the service to be rendered and certifying that public convenience and necessity will be improved by the operation and conduct of such livery service. Such permits shall be issued only after a written application for the same has been made and a public hearing has been held thereon. Upon receipt of such application, together with the payment of a fee of two hundred dollars, the department shall fix a time and place of hearing thereon, within a reasonable time, and shall promptly give written notice of the pendency of such application and of the time and place of such hearing to each applicant, the mayor of each city, the warden of each borough and the first selectman of each town, within which any such applicant desires to maintain an office or headquarters, to any carrier legally operating motor vehicles in livery service within the same territory and to other interested parties as determined by the department. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the department may issue a permit for the operation of vehicles (A) having a capacity of less than eleven adults or to be used exclusively at funerals, weddings, christenings, processions or celebrations, without holding a hearing and certifying that public convenience and necessity would be improved by the operation of such vehicles, or (B) having a capacity of not less than eleven or more than fourteen adults and used for sightseeing and related purposes, without holding a hearing, provided the department issues a legal notice, as provided under § 1-2, of such application and no objection is filed with the department within thirty days of publication of such notice. (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the department may issue a temporary or permanent permit to any person, association, limited liability company or corporation operating a motor vehicle engaged in the transportation of passengers for hire by virtue of a contract with, or a lower tier contract for, any federal, state or municipal agency that (A) is in effect on July 1, 1997, with or without hearing, after a written application for the same has been made and the department has determined that the applicant meets the requirements of subsection (b) of this section except with respect to public convenience and necessity, or (B) becomes effective after July 1, 1997, with or without hearing, after a written application for the same has been made and the department has determined that the applicant meets the requirements of subsection (b) of this section. Any such permit issued under the provisions of this subdivision (i) shall be limited to service provided under any such contract, and (ii) with respect to any contract under the provisions of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, shall not authorize a total number of motor vehicles exceeding the number required to provide service existing under such contract on July 1, 1997. (4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the department shall issue to any person who has an intrastate livery permit for at least one year, upon the application of such person, up to two additional vehicle authorizations each year without a hearing and without written notice of the pendency of the application, if all the existing permits held by such person are registered and in use and if there are no outstanding violations or matters pending adjudication against such person. The department shall have thirty calendar days to issue such amended permit.

(b) In determining whether or not such a permit will be granted, the Department of Transportation shall take into consideration the present or future public convenience and necessity for the service the applicant proposes to render, the suitability of the applicant or the suitability of the management if the applicant is a limited liability company or corporation, the financial responsibility of the applicant, the ability of the applicant efficiently and properly to perform the service for which authority is requested and the fitness, willingness and ability of the applicant to conform to the provisions of this chapter and the requirements and regulations of the department under this chapter.

(c) Any interested party may bring a written petition to the Department of Transportation in respect to fares, service, operation or equipment, or the convenience, protection and safety of the public with regard to any carrier operating a motor vehicle in livery service. Thereupon, the department may fix a time and place for a hearing upon such petition and give notice thereof. No permit shall be sold or transferred until the department, upon written application to it setting forth the purpose, terms and conditions thereof and accompanied by a fee of two hundred dollars, after investigation, approves the same. The department may amend or, for sufficient cause shown, may suspend or revoke any such permit. The department may impose a civil penalty on any person or any officer of any association, limited liability company or corporation who violates any provision of this chapter or any regulation adopted under § 13b-102 with respect to fares, service, operation or equipment, in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars per day for each violation. Prior to the imposition of a civil penalty under this subsection, the department shall provide notice to said person or officer no later than fifteen business days after receipt of information concerning an alleged violation and shall provide an opportunity for a hearing.

(d) The owner or operator of each motor vehicle in livery service shall display in such vehicle such permit or a memorandum thereof.

(e) (1) Any person who holds himself or herself out to be the operator of a motor vehicle in livery service who has not received a permit under this section shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

(2) The state shall remit to a municipality fifty per cent of the fine amount received for a violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection with respect to each summons issued by such municipality. Each clerk of the Superior Court or the Chief Court Administrator, or any other official of the Superior Court designated by the Chief Court Administrator, shall, on or before the thirtieth day of January, April, July and October in each year, certify to the Comptroller the amount due for the previous quarter under this subsection to each municipality served by the office of the clerk or official.

(f) The Department of Transportation may revoke a permit issued under this section or § 13b-105 without a hearing, provided (1) the department sends a notice of revocation to the permit holder at the address of the permit holder on file with the department and (A) the notice is returned as undeliverable or could not be delivered, or (B) the permit holder fails to respond to the notice within the time period specified by the department in such notice, (2) the department conducts a physical inspection of the address of the permit holder on file with the department and determines that no livery service is operated at such address, and (3) no motor vehicle is registered by the permit holder with the Department of Motor Vehicles to be used as specified in the permit pursuant to § 13b-106.