Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 63 - MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS (§§ 63-1-1 — 63-NEW01-NEW-014) › Chapter NEW - [COMMERCIAL VEHICLE TOWING] (§§ 63-NEW-NEW-001 — 63-NEW-NEW-008) › Section 63-NEW-NEW-003 - [Newly enacted section not yet numbered] [Duties of Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee ]

(1)
The Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee shall:
(a)
Establish regulations and standards for the inclusion of a towing and recovery service on the tow list, including application procedures and minimum qualification requirements;
(b)
Establish statewide maximum towing and storage rates for nonconsensual tows, including those for private property. The established maximum rates shall include maximum rates for administrative fees, provided as follows:
(i)
A towing and recovery service may charge less than, but may not charge more than the approved statewide rates;
(ii)
The towing and recovery service shall not charge or retain any fees not indicated by the committee for the maximum rates for towing and storage of a commercial motor vehicle after the nonconsensual tow from private property; and
(iii)
The statewide maximum towing and storage rates for nonconsensual tows shall be reviewed annually. Market fluctuations within the towing industry may be considered along with current consensual towing market rates and their relationship to nonconsensual towing rates;
(c)
Require the towing and recovery service to ban the use of per-pound billing for nonconsensual towing;
(d)
Publish a Towing Service Standard Manual, with rules governing the use of towing and recovery services for nonconsensually towing of commercial vehicles no later than January 1, 2025. At a minimum, the rules shall include the following provisions to:
(i)
Establish the information required to be included on any invoice associated with the towing of a commercial motor vehicle, including, but not limited to, requiring that the invoice be itemized;
(ii)
Establish factors that shall be considered in determining whether a charge levied by a towing and recovery service is fair, equitable and reasonable;
(iii)
Establish a process the committee shall use to receive, investigate and adjudicate complaints against a towing and recovery service;
(iv)
Establish a service charge dispute resolution process that includes, at a minimum, provisions requiring completion of a written complaint form, deadlines for initiating a complaint after receiving an itemized invoice, deadlines for responding to a complaint, cessation of storage fees during the complaint resolution process, a hearing on the complaint and deadlines for issuing a formal decision adjudicating the service charge dispute;
(v)
Establish an appeals process for the appeal of any determination of order of the committee under this subsection;
(vi)
Establish a disciplinary procedure for violations of the rules by the towing and recovery service, including the suspension or removal of a towing and recovery service from the tow list; and
(vii)
Establish a process that the Department of Public Safety may use to suspend or remove a towing and recovery service from any tow list.
Added by Laws, 2024, ch. 384, SB 2635,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2024.