The city has been left holding the bag on up to $5.5 million in unpaid fines racked up by rogue cabbies because legal proceedings weren’t brought against them before their licenses were yanked, officials said yesterday.
“We have no real enforcement mechanism today to go after that fine money,” Taxi and Limousine Commission chairman David Yassky testified before the City Council Transportation Committee.
He called for legislation that would give his agency the same powers as the Finance Department to stalk the deadbeats, including garnishing wages and freezing bank accounts.
Councilman James Vacca (D-Bronx), the committee chairman, seemed stunned by the news.
“I’m amazed this went on all these years and nothing was done,” he said. “Where was everyone at the TLC when this was going on and the money was not collected?”
Officials later explained that the TLC can only pursue overdue fines that were incurred while the cabbies still had their licenses.
“Once the license is yanked, we can’t docket the fines [in court],” said one official.
That’s left as much as $5.5 million in past-due debts gathering dust over the last decade.
