City of Scranton v. Public Service Commission
City of Scranton v. Public Service Commission
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The Scranton Railway Company, impelled by a strike of its employees and the recommendation of the National War Labor Board in connection therewith, filed with the Public Service Commission, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Company Law of 1913, new schedules of rates, increasing the unit fare, first, from five cents to six cents, and later from six cents to eight cents. Within thirty days the City of Scranton filed with the Public Service Commission its complaint setting forth that said increases were invalid as violating certain ordinances granting the said railway company, or its constituent corporations, the right to construct lines of railway on the city streets and limiting therein the rate
The right of the Public Service Commission to change a rate of fare fixed by a municipal ordinance granting consent to the use of the city streets, when found to be inadequate or unreasonable, has been upheld by this court in the cases of Wilkinsburg v. Public Service Commission, 72 Pa. Superior Ct. 423, and Foltz v. Public Service Commission, decided July 17, 1919, 73 Pa. Superior Ct. 24. It follows that if the Public Service Company Law confers this right, its provisions as to when the new rate shall take effect must govern: (see Art. II, Sec. 1 (f); Pittsburgh Rys. Co. v. Public Service Commission, 66 Pa. Superior Ct. 243). And there is no difference in this respect, contained in the act, between a change from a rate fixed by a municipal ordinance and from any other original tariff or schedule. That it was the intention of the legislature that the rate established by the public service company should take effect and be collectible pending a determination by the commission as to its reasonableness, is seen from the fact that the act provides for a refund in case the commission fixes a lower rate, and fails to give the commission power to suspend rates duly filed, posted and published.
The order of the commission is affirmed, and the appeal is dismissed at the costs of the. appellant.
Linn, J., took no part in this decision.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- City of Scranton v. The Public Service Commission
- Cited By
- 7 cases
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- Published
- Syllabus
- Public Service Company Load — Street railway companies — Contracts with municipalities — Bates. An increase of fares by a street railway company, as approved by the Public Service Commission will be sustained, even although the company operates under a municipal ordinance which contains a provision for a maximum fare to be charged by the railway company, and the new rate exceeds that stipulated in the ordinance, Public Service Gompcmy Law — Increase of rates — Valuation— Pates pending valuation. The Public Service Commission may authorize a temporary increase of ratea by a street railway company, pending a determinate valuation of the company's property devoted to public use. All orders of the Commission as to rates are, to an extent, temporary, in that they may be changed by the commission, as conditions warrant. The time when a new rate, to be charged by a Public Service Company, shall take effect, is fixed by the Public Service Company Law. And there is no difference in this respect, between a change from a rate fixed by a municipal ordinance, and, a change from any other original tariff or schedule. That it was the intention of the legislature that the rate filed with the public service company should take effect and be collectible, pending a determination by, the commission as to its reasonableness, is seen from the fact that the act provides for a refund, in case the commission fixes a lower rate, and fails to give to the commission the power to suspend rates duly filed, posted, and published.