P.R. Laws tit. 27, § 1111

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 1111. Granting authorizations, repeals, etc

(a) All authorizations shall be subject to amendment, suspension or repeal by the Commission, and shall so provide when granted. No amendment, suspension or repeal of an authorization granted for the term of one year or more, with the exception of the provision contained in § 1262(a) of this title, shall be effective without the affected person having had the opportunity of a hearing after due notice and specification of the matters involved, pursuant to the provisions of § 1262 of this title. The Commission may stay the operations of an enterprise for violation of this part or of the rules it may promulgate, even though the violation may have been incurred only by one of the units operated by the enterprise. The suspension or repeal or revocation of a public or private carrier’s authorization automatically entails the suspension or repeal or revocation of the licenses granted by the Department of Transportation and Public Works of Puerto Rico.

(b) The Commission may prescribe the terms and conditions of the authorizations it grants. Likewise, it may require the payment of a periodic royalty for exercising the above and prescribing the manner and time in which the payments shall be made.

The fees collected on this account shall be covered into the books of the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury as a special fund separate from any funds received by the Public Service Commission.

The purpose of this special fund is to defray the non-recurring expenses for research and specialized studies, for contracting professional, advisory, non-professional and expert services, for productivity bonuses, for purchasing materials and supplies, and for whatever may be needed to improve the procedures and expedite the legal functions of the Commission so that the funds may be used to strengthen all appropriation items for the operational and functional expenses of the Public Service Commission.

The Commission shall submit to the Office of Management and Budget an annual budget of expenses chargeable to said special fund, which shall be approved before the resources deposited therein are used.

The remaining funds which by June 30 of each fiscal year have not been used or pledged for the purposes of §§ 1101 et seq. of this title, shall remain in the books of the dependencies for a maximum term of three (3) years. After this term has expired, said funds shall be cancelled taking into consideration any pertinent legal provision. The savings generated by said encumbered and unspent balance shall only be used to defray expenses of a non-recurring nature, that is to say expenses which do not encumber future budgets.

For the purposes of these subsections[sic], the dependencies are hereby authorized to establish an interest-bearing account in the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico into which the savings resulting at the end of each fiscal year shall be partially or totally covered. Said account shall be governed by the following provisions:

(1) The principal of and interest on the resources covered into the account shall be used by the dependencies to defray expenses of a non-recurring nature. The interest on this account may be used to defray expenses of a recurring nature. To that effect, each dependency shall be responsible for maintaining an appropriate work plan, structured so that the account may provide a sufficient balance to meet the commitments incurred chargeable to said account.

(2) The term of three (3) years established in this subsection shall not apply to the resources thus covered into said account.

(3) In those cases in which the agency lacks a balance generated by the interest on the account, said agency shall defray the commitments contracted against said resources by charging the aforesaid to its own budget.

(4) These resources may not be used for other purposes, unless so provided by law.

(5) The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico and the Department of the Treasury are herby authorized to establish the regulations and mechanisms needed for the latter to transfer the surplus of every fiscal year to the accounts corresponding to each dependency and to carry out the purposes of this section.

When granting authorizations for public transportation, the Commission shall consider as one of the criteria of necessity and convenience, the transportation plan drafted by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works and approved by the Governor, pursuant to the provisions of §§ 2001 et seq. of Title 9.

(c) In every authorization granted pursuant to § 1110 of this title, the term of duration and the service to be rendered shall be specified. The Commission shall have the discretion to also specify the areas, sites or territories where the service will be rendered. The Commission may impose such reasonable terms, conditions and limitations as public necessity and convenience may demand in the exercise of the privileges granted by the authorization. Provided, That if public convenience and necessity require that the areas to be served by public vehicle enterprises be specified, the Commission shall design the most appropriate procedures, in accordance with the rights of the persons affected, to determine the routes to be served by the public vehicle enterprises that already have authorizations issued by the Commission at the time this determination is taken.

(d) No authorization shall be granted to public carriers to operate simultaneously over the same route or locality as private carriers or vice versa, unless, upon good cause shown, the Commission may determine that such dual operation is required for public necessity and convenience.

(e) The term of one hundred and eighty (180) days fixed in § 1110 of this title may be extended by the Commission if it considers such extension necessary or desirable for the purpose of fully complying with its duties under [this] part. Such term shall not be extended for a period longer than one year counting from the date this act takes effect.

(f) [Repealed. Act Aug. 9, 1974, No. 16, Part 2, § 2, eff. Aug. 9, 1974.]

History —June 28, 1962, No. 109, p. 288, § 24; Aug. 9, 1974, No. 16, Part 2, p. 624, §§ 1, 2; June 22, 1977, No. 98, p. 219, § 2; Nov. 29, 1989, No. 6, p. 550, § 1; Nov. 27, 1990, No. 7, p. 1447; Mar. 6, 1991, No. 1, § 12; Aug. 19, 1994, No. 95, § 1; Aug. 17, 1999, No. 268, § 1.