Hearing on application for certificate; notice

The commissioner, upon the filing of a petition for a certificate, shall fix a time and place for hearing thereon and shall, at least ten days before the hearing, give notice thereof by advertising the same at the expense of the applicant in a newspaper in Atlanta, in which sheriffs’ notices are published. If no protest is filed with the commissioner or if the protest is subsequently withdrawn, the commissioner may issue the certificate without a hearing. (Ga. L. 1931, p. 199, § 6; Code 1933, § 68-611; Ga. L. 1996, p. 950, § 3; Ga. L. 2000, p. 951, § 9-4; Ga. L. 2004, p. 366, § 9.) The 2004 amendment, effective July 1, 2004, deleted ‘‘of public convenience and necessity’’ following ‘‘certificate’’ near the beginning of the first sentence.