City Councilman Doug Shields plans to introduce legislation today to rein in Pittsburgh's private towing industry, targeting several companies that have for years charged upwards of $180 for a fee the city sets at $110.

The new legislation would require towing companies and their drivers to register for a business license, enabling the city to examine their sales and payroll records. The Department of Public Safety would approve or deny license applications, which would also create a mechanism for enforcing the oft-ignored current ordinance, said Mr. Shields.

"It's the same thing that we've done for other businesses that went astray here in the city of Pittsburgh," he said. "And it produces results."

The current city ordinance that regulates towing from private parking lots was enacted in 2000. It forbids companies from charging more than $110 for towing a passenger car and requires them to accept credit cards, but Mr. Shields said it is ineffective because there is no agency designated to enforce it.

"There's nothing in there that gives any regulatory oversight," he said.

Mr. Shields began collecting complaints about a year ago from drivers who said they were overcharged for towing, after a TV news station ran a story on the issue.

A Post-Gazette review of 50 such complaints -- 45 gathered by Mr. Shields and five gathered by a reporter -- determined that 42 of them were about two companies, Howard's Towing & Recovery and Allegheny Auto & Truck.

Managers at both companies acknowledged that they have charged more than $110 to tow cars from private lots but insist that they abide by city code.

Allegheny Auto & Truck manager Ron Johnson said last week that his company charges more if extra labor or equipment is needed. The ordinance outlines these charges for the city's towing company, McGann & Chester, but does not say that they apply to other operators.

And Joe Stickles, a manager at Howard's Towing & Recovery, said that his company charges more than $110 because that rate is unrealistically low.

"The towing law hasn't been revised in numerous years," he said.

The towing fees were last amended in August 1997. Mr. Stickles said he figured that applying a 4 percent rate increase each year since then would permit companies today to charge about $170.

In fact, in 27 of the 50 towing complaints, drivers said they were charged $180 by Howard's Towing & Recovery.

If Mr. Shields's bill is approved, towing companies and their drivers would need to obtain an annually renewable license to tow vehicles within city lines, regardless of where their company is located. To be licensed, companies would have to provide a state tax identification number and proof of personal injury and property damage insurance worth at least $250,000 per incident.

Mr. Stickles said that he was in favor of the legislation.

"I know a lot of other cities do it," he said.

Managers from several other towing companies reacted to the idea with skepticism, though.

Mr. Johnson said he supported licensing towing companies, but only if the application for a license was not overly restrictive and did not favor companies with city contracts.

Tom Wehmer, a manager at Stuckert's Towing and Gulf, said that the new ordinance would just create "more aggravation" for companies that already obey the law.

He said that consumer abuses arise because companies violate the ordinance, not because the ordinance is unclear.

"It's pretty cut and dry," he said. "There are a few unscrupulous operators out there who shall remain nameless."

Thirty-one of the 50 towing complaints were about Howard's Towing & Recovery, a Hazelwood company that has been in business for more than 15 years and tows from more than 200 lots in Pittsburgh.

Forty-three of the complaints claimed that a driver was charged more than $110 to retrieve their car; the average bill listed in those complaints was $183.49.

Nineteen of the complaints related to the type of payment that was accepted. With two exceptions, drivers said they were required to pay in cash.

Elaine Cassidy, a 35-year-old doctor from Point Breeze, was one of the drivers who filed a complaint about Howard's Towing.

She said that her car was towed in April during a brief trip to the Starbucks inside Shadyside's Courtyard Marriott Hotel; the parking lot was full, so she pulled up alongside a wall.

A driver hooked his tow truck up to her Toyota Yaris while she was buying coffee, she said. Her keys were in the ignition and her car's engine was still running.

Ms. Cassidy said that the driver asked for $180 in cash to release her car and directed her to a nearby ATM.

"I almost burst into tears," she said. "I don't have that kind of money on me."

Mr. Stickles said this week that Howard's Towing & Recovery accepts credit cards, though their machine was broken recently.

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