No justification for seizing legally parked bikes

AFTER A VIDEO SHOWING LOCAL URBAN PATROL OFFICERS in Shanghai removing legally parked bikes of bike-sharing company Mobike was posted online, it was reported that more than 4,000 bikes, about 3,500 of which are owned by Mobike, have been impounded in the city. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Thursday:

Bike-sharing companies are swallowing a bitter-sweet pill as their rapid success is being accompanied by unexpected loss or damage to their assets. Among all the risks, the risk of their bikes being impounded remains one of the highest because urban patrol officers have been told to remove bicycles in violation of parking rules regardless of who owns them.

In many instances though, bikes that are parked legally are also being removed from the streets, and often they are damaged in the process. That imposes an extra financial burden on the service providers.