Nearly 80 percent of Cambridge taxi drivers could lose their jobs if recommendations of the Cambridge License Commission are enacted, a lawyer for the Cambridge Taxi Drivers Association said yesterday.

At yesterday's commission hearing, Boston-based attorney John A. Dalimonte said commission demands that taxis be fewer than nine years old and be fitted with meters capable of printing receipts will raise costs to a level that will force the average owner-operator out of business.

"The commission has said that a charge of even $5,000 can force a driver out of business," said Dalimonte, one of more than 50 lawyers, cab drivers and limousine operators present at the hearing.

Menachem M. Stern, who owns six cabs, said taxi drivers work very long hours to try to make ends meet but do not want to increase fares.

"There isn't anyone who works as hard as a cab driver; we work 12 hours a day six or seven days a week," Stern said. "Insurance has tripled, and increased costs will have to be transferred to the meters because we have to make a living."

"As this proposal is written, the costs would put 80 percent or more of the drivers out of business," Dalimonte said.

Dalimonte proposed that current drivers be exempt from the age regulation and that the meter regulation be quashed altogether.

But Michael Gervais, president of the Cambridge Carriage Coalition and director of operations for Checker Cab, said Dalimonte overestimated the number of drivers who will lose jobs and said the regulations will benefit consumers in the long run.

"Eighty percent of the cab industry in Cambridge does not have 10-year-old cabs," Gervais said. "A couple of years ago, we decided to build a little respect [for the taxi industry] with the city of Cambridge, and even if you have 10 shoddy cabs out of 248, that's a black eye in the city."

Alex Rodriguez, commission chair, said the commission would take the discussion under advisement and vote on the proposed changes tomorrow.

`Vintage' Requirement

But Rodriguez said the commission will probably reject Dalimonte's amendment to the age, or "vintage" requirement, because it is unnecessary.

"A well-operated vehicle that would stand the test of an inspection would be good," he said. "There are several exceptions to the vintage requirement already allowed." Rodriguez refused to elaborate on the exemptions.

William Cavellini, who owns and operates a cab in Cambridge, said performance, not age, should be used to determine a cab's fitness.

"A licensed mechanic inspects these cabs two times a year, plus there is a state inspection for vehicles once a year," Cavellini said. "What we're asking for is for you to look at performance rather than appearance."