The city must charge consumers within each rate classification according to an equal rate. Plaintiffs' view, if accepted, might lead to increased fraud and corruption, and "would result in discrimination that for the protection of the public generally is forbidden by law". Robert McDaniel Trucking Co, Inc v Oak Construction Co, 359 Mich. 494, 501; 102 N.W.2d 575 (1960). To put it plainly, no one may avoid payment of a water bill merely because the city did not read the meter.
In a similar situation, where a trucking company raised the possible illegality of a rate agreement it had signed with a shipper, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that shippers and carriers entering into rate agreements "shall be deemed to have made the kind and character of contract permitted by the statute regulating such transaction." Robert McDaniel Trucking Co. v. Oak Construction Co., 359 Mich. 494, 511, 102 N.W.2d 575 (1960). The language of 49 U.S.C. ยง 10713 emphasizes the current enforceability of rate contracts made prior to the Staggers Act.