(a) Certificates, permits, and licenses shall not be assigned, transferred, or hypothecated in any manner, nor shall the operation under any such permit, certificate, or license be leased without authority of the Arkansas Department of Transportation and on written application, and after ten (10) days' notice, to parties in interest and hearing.
(b) The transfer, lease, assignment, or hypothecation of the permits, certificates, or licenses shall not be authorized when the department finds the action will be inconsistent with the public interest or will have the effect of destroying competition or creating a monopoly, nor where it appears that reasonably continuous service under the authority or that part of the authority granted by the permit, certificate, or license which is sought to be transferred has not been rendered prior to the application for transfer, assignment, or hypothecation.
(c)
(1) All applications for transfer must be made on proper forms prescribed by the department.
(2) There must be attached to such application for a transfer of a certificate, permit, or license a joint affidavit executed by the vendor and vendee certifying that all accrued taxes, station rents, wages of employees, and all other indebtedness incident to the vendor's operation have been paid in full or, if such is not the case, will be assumed by the vendee. Provided, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply in any respect to either the vendor or the vendee, where the vendor has filed for protection under the federal bankruptcy laws and is transferring the authority as part of a reorganization or liquidation under an order directing the sale entered under the federal bankruptcy laws.
(d) Every such application for the transfer of a certificate or permit shall be accompanied by a certified check or money order in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00) made payable to the department. The funds shall be collected by the department to be deposited into the State Treasury to the credit of the General Revenue Fund Account of the State Apportionment Fund.