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A pair of Queens cabs were recently impounded while dropping off patients at North Shore Hospital because they failed to acquire a $350 registration permit now necessary to carry passengers in Nassau County. The situation has given Queens cabbies and officials a case of road rage.

Nassau County instituted a policy last summer that required cab drivers licensed in other municipalities to purchase a registration sticker to pick up or drop off passengers within county lines.

Initial controversy over the law led county officials to hold off enforcement for several months, sources said, but unregistered cabbies became fair game starting in December. If caught without a proper sticker, police seize the vehicle, and drivers must pay an additional $1,800 on top of the $350 permit fee to get it back.

After dropping off patients at North Shore Hospital, two Queens-based cabs were spotted without the sticker and taken by police, sources said. One company paid the fee and another has decided to fight the action in court. Both companies did not return calls seeking comment.

To date, 18 cars have been seized as a result of the policy, several of which are New York City licensed taxis, according to a Nassau County official. When first contacted, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission was not aware that any city taxis had been impounded.

But both municipalities have been haggling over a reciprocity agreement for months that would allow cabs to flow freely across borders. New York City already has such an agreement with Westchester County and neighboring states.

“We have held preliminary meetings with Nassau County officials about the issue,” said TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus. “We well understand the positions on both sides of this matter, and continue to believe that a positive resolution will be reached that takes all interests into account.”

Any taxi can drop off passengers in New York City free of charge. To pick up passengers for locations outside the city requires a permit costing about $250. A full New York taxi license is required to pick up passengers in the city heading for another city destination.

Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) sent a letter to Nassau County Consumer Affairs Commissioner Roger Bogsted asking him to drop the registration fee. Many Queens patients depend on taxis and black cars to transport them to doctors and hospitals in Long Island, and they should not be penalized for assisting them, he wrote.

“Nassau County may need to balance its budget, but starting a potential border war is not the way to go about it,” Vallone wrote. “A more equitable way should and must be found to allow a free flow of transportation between these two counties.”

Nassau County officials confirmed that they were in discussion with the city over a reciprocity agreement. In the meantime, officials implied the city should do a better job policing its own taxi fleet, many of which were found in Nassau County with no valid license at all.

“I’ll tell you, it’s like babies,” an official said, referring to New York cab companies. “They just can’t follow the law. They just want to ride roughshod all over the place and not fulfill their obligations.”