Senate tosses taxi bill back to House

In a move to strengthen the taxicab industry while protecting the insurance sector and the public, the 14th CNMI Senate tossed back to the House the proposed taxi bill, which the senators revised in its entirety.

The bill, which passed the House of Representatives, aims to fix the insurance problem faced by taxi operators on the island.

The Senate tossed back to the lower chamber House Bill 14-166 after the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs recommended that revisions be looked into, particularly the proposals on the Assigned Plan Risk.

Sen. Thomas Villagomez said the ARP was a major concern during the committee meetings because it was never clarified thoroughly. From a five-page proposal, HB 14-166 now covers over 25 pages that include assignment of ARP to $250. The current ARP rate is $25.

“Why is a high risk coverage industry like the taxicab be assigned a $25 ARP? It used to have $50 coverage premium; this was later reduced to $25. Revisions on this bill would tackle that and it was recommended to go as high as $250,” said Villagomez after the Senate session yesterday.

The revised taxi bill also tackled fraudulent insurance claims in response to reports of theft by deception statutes being inadequate to handle fraudulent claims.

“The committee finds that the current theft by deception statutes, while applicable, are insufficient to stem these abuses, and a statute that specifically addresses insurance fraud is needed so that the Office of the Attorney General will have another tool with which it may prosecute those who file fraudulent claims,” reads the standing committee report.

Sen. Luis Crisostimo, who issued the report, said that filing of a fraudulent insurance claim and the repeated filing of fraudulent insurance claims violate public policy and morality “and should be severely punished and that civil remedy that allows for the recovery of double and triple damages is both necessary and proper.”

Based on the revised taxi bill, insurance fraud would entail imprisonment of one to 10 years.

Crisostimo stressed that it is in the best interest of the CNMI for the taxicab industry to co-exist with the tourism industry and that refusal to issue insurance policies to taxicab operators will have a potentially devastating effect on the co-existence of the two industries.

The House of Representatives passed the bill last month. It amends Public Law 11-55 to provide for the inclusion of taxicab operators in the mandatory automobile insurance coverage provided by insurance providers at the coverage rate set under Public Law 9-29.

The passage of the measure would also empower the Insurance Commissioner to promulgate rules and regulations regarding assigned risk plans for motor vehicle liability insurance. Also, the lower house stressed the need to address other issues, including drug testing, uniformity of attire, among others.

The Department of Commerce had disclosed that insurance providers in the CNMI are no longer writing new coverage for taxicab vehicle policies or renewing expiring policies for taxi vehicles since January 2004 due to the sector being considered “high-risk.”