Maryland Public Utility Companies Section 4-503

      (a)      This section does not apply to service rendered or commodities furnished:

            (1)      to the officers, employees, pensioners, and immediate family members of the officers, employees, and pensioners of a public service company;

            (2)      to the United States, the State, or a local government;

            (3)      to provide relief in cases of general epidemic, pestilence, flood, or other similar calamity;

            (4)      in the case of common carriers, to transport:

                  (i)      personnel of another common carrier that reciprocates for personnel of the transporting common carrier;

                  (ii)      hospital patients;

                  (iii)      indigent, destitute, and homeless individuals;

                  (iv)      persons exclusively engaged in charitable work;

                  (v)      residents of federal or State veterans homes, including those about to enter a home or those returning from a home;

                  (vi)      railway mail service employees and baggage agents;

                  (vii)      post office, customs, and immigration inspectors;

                  (viii)      newspaper vendors;

                  (ix)      property for exhibition carried to or from fairs and expositions;

                  (x)      employees of sleeping car companies, express companies, telegraph companies, and telephone companies doing business along the line of the common carrier;

                  (xi)      persons and property incident to or connected with contracts for construction, operation, or maintenance of the plant of the transportation company, to the extent provided in the contracts;

                  (xii)      individuals injured in accidents and physicians, nurses, or other necessary caretakers attending the injured individuals in transit;

                  (xiii)      children under the age of 5 years for no charge;

                  (xiv)      children under 12 years for half fare; or

                  (xv)      persons at free or reduced rates that are otherwise authorized by law;

            (5)      in the case of common carriers, for the issuance of mileage, excursion, or commuter tickets;

            (6)      to free steamboat excursion transportation from May through August of each year, from Baltimore City to any place in the State, in exchange for services rendered in advertising the excursion business;

            (7)      to obtain essential data by a method that uses a limited sample of customers, in connection with a rate structure study conducted under formal proceedings before the Commission; or

            (8)      to telephone lifeline service provided to eligible subscribers under § 8-201 of this article.

      (b)      For any service rendered or commodity furnished, a public service company may not directly or indirectly, by any means, including special rates, rebates, drawbacks, or refunds:

            (1)      charge, demand, or receive from a person compensation that is greater or less than from any other person under substantially similar circumstances;

            (2)      extend a privilege or facility to a person, except those privileges and facilities that are extended uniformly to all persons under substantially similar circumstances;

            (3)      discriminate against a person, locality, or particular class of service; or

            (4)      give undue or unreasonable preference to or cause undue or unreasonable prejudice to a person, locality, or particular class of service.