Operators of shuttles who receive pay for their services must comply with the city’s taxi ordinance, city attorney Lee Thames said Monday after a taxi operator complained of unfair enforcement of city rules.

Thames gave his opinion during a discussion between the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and Shereada Manuel, owner of “Pick Me Up” Shuttle Taxi Service.

Manuel initially wrote to the board to complain about being stopped by Vicksburg police for not having proper taxi registration and asked for help in complying with the law.

At the meeting Monday, Manuel said she had been asked in a letter delivered by Vicksburg police to appear at the meeting of the Board of Mayor and Alderman.

Her business partner, Joseph Lippman, said he had been cited about six times for not having a certificate.

Thames said the city sent letters to the operators of vehicles for hire in September, saying they must comply with the ordinance.

He said police, who are responsible for enforcing the ordinance, began warning shuttle operators about the law in October and started writing tickets in November.

The crackdown on the shuttles, he said, came in response to a complaint from Roosevelt Harris, owner of Executive Cab, the only cab company complying with the ordinance, according to the City Clerk’s Office.

“He said he didn’t think it was right that he was having to comply with the ordinance and they were not,” Thames said.

Tony McElroy, a shuttle driver for Rocket Cab Co., said after Monday’s meeting that he has been stopped twice and received a warning each time. McElroy said Rocket also received a letter delivered by police.

According to the City Clerk’s Office, Rocket is not in compliance with the ordinance. McElroy represented Rocket at the meeting but did not speak.

Shuttle services are not mentioned in the ordinance, but Thames said the businesses meet the definition of a taxi service, which are:

• Can carry a maximum of five passengers at a time.

• In the business of carrying passengers for hire.

• Does not operate on a fixed route.

• Gets passengers by cruising, soliciting or dispatch.

Cab companies are required to register with the city, have $75,000 insurance coverage for injuries and $150,000 coverage for accidents and property damage. Cabs must be inspected by the police department, and drivers must be approved and permitted by the city’s Public Transportation Board, which administers the ordinance.

The Transportation Board, however, has not met since the death of board member Ray Herrington in December 2011. North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said a replacement is expected to be named Monday when the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meets.

All shuttle services on Monday were given two weeks to comply with the ordinance.

“The board is giving these companies the opportunity to get in compliance, and we’re going to give them that chance,” Deputy Chief Mitchell Dent said. “But once those two weeks end, we’ll again write tickets for violation of the city ordinance.”

Executive’s Harris said after the meeting that he had contacted police Chief Walter Armstrong about his competitors operating without being in compliance with the ordinance.

“They have had the opportunity to comply and they never have,” he said. “I’ve seen them on the streets and complained to the mayor and police Chief Walter Armstrong.”

“Apparently there was some confusion on the part of the shuttle services,” Armstrong said. “They thought they were not included under the taxi ordinance. Our opinion was that they always were, and we’ve been trying to get them to comply.

“The cab companies complained because the shuttle services weren’t spending the same amount of money the cabs were to be in compliance, but getting the same benefits.”

Dent said he could not provide numbers of citations issued to taxi and shuttle operators.