2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-SEVEN - Public Service (§§ 1 — 2641) › PART III - Puerto Rico Public Service Act (§§ 1001 — 1282) › Chapter 53 - Powers and Duties of the Commission (§§ 1101 — 1124) › § 1110 - Petitions for authorizations

(a) Any petition to the Commission shall be granted only when the Commission determines that the granting or approval thereof is necessary or proper for the service, comfort, convenience or safety of the public.
(b) Except as hereinafter provided in this section, no person shall commence to operate as a public service company or private carrier, nor shall continue to operate as such were he already doing so, unless he holds a valid authorization from the Commission for such operations. The Commission may interfere with any person who, without providing himself with a valid authorization, acts as a public service company or private carrier, and may command said person, after granting him an opportunity to be heard, to cease such operations.
(c) If any public service company or private carrier has been operating in good faith on the effective date of this act and has since continued to operate, except for any seasonal nature of its operations or any interruptions in service over which such public service company or private carrier had no control, the Commission shall issue the authorization referred to in subsection (b) of this section, without requiring additional proof of the public necessity and convenience of such operations, and without further proceedings, provided the petition for such authorization is made to the Commission as provided in subsection (d) of this section, and within one hundred and eighty (180) days after this act takes effect. If such circumstances did not exist, the petition for such authorization shall be resolved in accordance with the procedure provided in subsections (e) and (f) of this section, and the authorization shall be granted or denied, as the case may be. It shall be lawful to continue such operations pending resolution of the petition.
(d) All petitions for authorization by the Commission shall be in writing and sworn to, shall be in such form, shall contain such information, and shall be accompanied by such proof of publication or notice to such interested parties, as the Commission may by regulation prescribe. Any person not covered by the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, and operating as a public service company or private carrier on the date this act takes effect, may continue his operations for a term of one hundred and eighty (180) days, on and after that date, without any authorization whatsoever from the Commission. If the said petition for authorization is filed with the Commission within that period of time, the said person may continue his operations as long as the Commission does not pass upon the petition.
(e) If upon examination of a petition under this section the Commission determines that the petitioner is able and willing and in a position adequately to comply with the applicable provisions of this part and the requirements and rules approved by the Commission, and that present or future public necessity and convenience require or will require the proposed operations to the extent the same are to be authorized, it shall authorize any or all parts of the operations covered by the petition. The Commission shall not grant such authorization to any public service company or private carrier if it finds, after a hearing, that the said company or private carrier began or continued its operations when authorization was required by this part to render such specific service.
(f) If after examining any petition filed under this section the Commission cannot arrive at the determinations required by subsection (e) of this section, it shall so notify the petitioner and all persons who may have filed written objections to the granting of the authorization, giving the grounds and reasons for not making the necessary determinations. The petitioner shall then be given a reasonable opportunity to answer such notification. If, after considering the answer, the Commission still cannot make the determination required by subsection (e) of this section, it shall deny the petition.
History —June 28, 1962, No. 109, p. 288, § 23; June 27, 1974, No. 103, Part 1, p. 341, § 4.