Any person or corporation owning or operating a plant furnishing water or gas to the public or any portion thereof for compensation who shall fail or refuse to accept the rate fixed by the Commission to be charged for water or gas and instead thereof shall charge, demand or receive a greater amount than that fixed by the Commission shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction, one half of such fine as may be imposed going to the informer and the other half to the city in which the complaint arises. Each overcharge to any consumer of water or gas shall constitute a separate offense.
S.C. Code § 58-5-370