Marvin Mandel, Governor

555.

Any person who engages and accepts translation in a public
taxicab or other vehicle operated as a common carrier, under any
conditions whereby the charge therefor is not paid in advance, and
who wilfully refuses to pay the proper charges at the conclusion of
such transportation, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction thereof shall be subject to a fine of not more than
fifty dollars for each such offense. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prevent the owner or operator of any such common car-
rier from making a special agreement with the person who engaged
and accepted transportation, for the subsequent payment of the
charges due. This section shall be effective only in Baltimore, Har-
ford, Frederick, Washington, Somerset, and Talbot counties.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1972.

Approved April 26, 1972.

CHAPTER 170
(House Bill 1105)

AN ACT to add new Section 557B to Article 27 of the Annotated Code
of Maryland (1971 Replacement Volume), title "Crimes and Pun-
ishments," subtitle "Telegraphs and Telephones," to follow imme-
diately after Section 557A thereof, making it unlawful with a cer-
tain intent to publish or cause to be published the number or code
of existing, cancelled, revoked, expired, or non-existent telephone
credit cards or the numbering or coding system employed in the
issuance of telephone credit cards, and providing a penalty thereof.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 557B be and it is hereby added to Article 27 of
the Annotated Code of Maryland (1971 Replacement Volume), title
"Crimes and Punishments," subtitle "Telegraphs and Telephones,"
to follow immediately after Section 577A thereof, and to read as fol-
lows:

557B.

Any person who publishes or causes to be published the number or
code of an existing, cancelled, revoked, expired, or non-existent tele-
phone credit card, or the numbering or coding system which is
employed in the issuance of telephone credit cards, with the intent
that it be used or with knowledge or reason to believe that it will
MAY be used to FRAUDULENTLY avoid the payment of any law-
ful toll charge, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon conviction thereof,
he shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months,
or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by both imprison-
ment and fine in the discretion of the court. As used in this section,
"publishes" means the communication of information to any one or
more persons, either orally, in person, or by telephone, radio, or

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