§ 18-c. Independent livery bases. 1. For purposes of this section,\n"covered services," "livery," "livery driver," "livery registrant,"\n"livery base," "local taxi and limousine commission" and "responsible\nperson" shall have the meanings set forth in article six-G of the\nexecutive law.\n 2. The board shall designate a livery base as an independent livery\nbase, only if the base meets each of the following criteria:\n (a) The base submits an affirmation sworn under penalty of perjury by\nan officer or director and such other individuals as the chair may\ndirect, on such form as is provided by the board, which attests to the\ntruth of such criteria as are set by the chair by regulation, or in the\nabsence of such regulation attests to the truth of the following:
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§ 18-c. Independent livery bases. 1. For purposes of this section,\n"covered services," "livery," "livery driver," "livery registrant,"\n"livery base," "local taxi and limousine commission" and "responsible\nperson" shall have the meanings set forth in article six-G of the\nexecutive law.\n 2. The board shall designate a livery base as an independent livery\nbase, only if the base meets each of the following criteria:\n (a) The base submits an affirmation sworn under penalty of perjury by\nan officer or director and such other individuals as the chair may\ndirect, on such form as is provided by the board, which attests to the\ntruth of such criteria as are set by the chair by regulation, or in the\nabsence of such regulation attests to the truth of the following: (i)\nthe base is not, directly or indirectly, including through any director\nor officer, the owner or registrant of any livery dispatched by the\nbase; (ii) all livery drivers dispatched by the base provide and select\ntheir own clothing; (iii) all livery drivers dispatched by the base set\ntheir own hours and days of work; (iv) all livery drivers choose which\ndispatches or fares to accept, and no livery driver suffers any\nconsequence by the livery base for failing to respond to its dispatch;\n(v) livery drivers dispatched by the base may enter into a contractual\nrelationship with one or more other bases; (vi) no livery driver\ndispatched by the base receives an internal revenue service form W-2\nfrom such base, or is subject to the withholding of any federal income\ntaxes by the base; (vii) the base does not pay for the fuel or\nmaintenance of any liveries; (viii) the base does not impose any fines\nand penalties on any livery drivers, except that it may decline to\nprovide further dispatches for misconduct during any dispatch; and (ix)\nno livery driver is subject to being fired or discharged by the livery\nbase. The base shall agree to provide the board with immediate notice of\nany inaccuracies in the affirmation, including any failure to adhere to\nany of the matters set forth on its affirmation.\n (b) The board shall alter the criteria set forth in paragraph (a) of\nthis subdivision to conform to any statutory definition for employer or\nindependent contractor applicable to livery drivers.\n (c) The livery shall provide the board and local taxi and limousine\ncommission, and all livery registrants or drivers whose liveries may be\ndispatched by the livery base, with a copy of a written policy in plain\nlanguage, in the primary language spoken by each registrant or driver,\nsetting forth all matters to which it has attested on the affirmation\nprovided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision. The failure to\ndistribute such a policy shall not have any legal consequence except in\naccordance with section one hundred sixty-hhh of the executive law.\n (d) The base shall pay into the independent livery fund such payments\nas are directed by the independent livery driver benefit fund pursuant\nto article six-G of the executive law.\n (e) The base may not owe any payments into the fund established under\nsection twenty-six-a of this article, or otherwise owe any moneys under\nthis chapter, unless it has an agreement with the board to repay the\nmoney owed, or to relieve it of the obligation to make any such\npayments.\n (f) The base shall maintain such records as are provided for by\nregulation of the chair.\n (g) The base shall permit the local taxi and limousine commission, the\nindependent livery fund and any carrier providing compensation under\nthis title for the independent livery fund to audit its books and\nrecords during regular business hours solely as necessary to determine\ncompliance with this section, or to determine the amount owed to the\nfund.\n (h) No responsible persons of the livery base may have been a\nresponsible person of a base whose status as an independent livery base\nwas revoked within the previous five years, or which has no agreement on\nmoneys owed in as required by paragraph (e) of this subdivision, unless\nsuch criteria are waived in the discretion of the board.\n 3. The board may revoke any livery base's status as an independent\nlivery base if it determines that the base is in violation of any of the\ncriteria set forth in subdivision one of this section, or may suspend\nthe livery base's status as an independent livery base pending the\nbase's compliance with any such criteria.\n 4. An independent livery base's obligations under this chapter\nregarding the securing and provision of workers' compensation benefits\nfor any livery driver it dispatches shall be satisfied in full by\ncompliance with the requirements imposed upon an independent livery base\nby this section and article six-G of the executive law. Insurance\ncoverage directly procured by any independent livery base for the\npurpose of satisfying the requirements of this chapter with respect to\nemployees of the central livery dispatch facility shall not include\ncoverage of any livery driver to the extent that the livery driver is\ncovered under coverage secured by the New York livery drivers' injury\ncompensation fund pursuant to the requirements of article six-G of the\nexecutive law except as provided in that article.\n 5. Any livery base that is not an independent livery base shall be\ndeemed an employer of any livery driver it dispatches for purposes of\nthis article.\n 6. A livery base's designation as an employer or independent livery\nbase in accordance with this section shall not be considered in any\ndetermination as to whether a livery base is an employer or independent\ncontractor under any other provision of law. The livery base's\ndesignation under this section shall not be admissible in any court or\nadministrative proceeding in this state, except any proceeding under\nthis article or article six-G of the executive law, to demonstrate the\nbase's status as an employer or independent contractor.\n 7. For all injuries or illnesses resulting to a livery driver arising\nout of covered services for an independent livery base, and for which\ncompensation must be paid in accordance with section one hundred\nsixty-ddd of the executive law, the independent livery driver benefit\nfund shall be deemed the employer for all purposes of this chapter.\n 8. An independent livery driver that sustains injury as a result of\nthe use or operation of an automobile during a dispatch by an\nindependent livery base may obtain recovery in accordance with article\nfifty-one of the insurance law, and shall not be entitled to workers'\ncompensation benefits except as set forth in section one hundred\nsixty-ddd of the executive law.\n 9. An independent livery driver who submits a claim for recovery in\naccordance with article fifty-one of the insurance law pursuant to\nsubdivision eight of this section shall be subject to local taxi and\nlimousine commission rules prohibiting driving until he or she has\nrecovered from his or her injury. Any authorized insurer required to\naccept such claims shall be entitled to apply the pre-authorized\nprocedures, medical treatment guidelines and other applicable provisions\nof this article.\n