EARLIER THIS MONTH a truck driver in Jinan, East China's Shandong province, was reportedly forced to pay 3,200 yuan ($482) as a parking fee to a property management company after he parked his truck outside one of the buildings managed by the company for just five minutes. Procuratorate Daily commented on Saturday:

Asked on what grounds they charged the truck driver for parking outside the building, the property management company said the neighborhood committee had entrusted the cleaning and management of the neighborhood's roads to them, hence it had "the right to charge parking fees".

Such an explanation is far-fetched and does not hold water. The company, which was found to have dispatched two cars to corner the "wrongly parked" truck and solicited a hefty fine, is not registered; and it has employed similar tricks against other drivers previously.

Its thug-like way of thinking goes against every aspect of modern governance. The roads, although funded by local residents, do not belong to any individual party, not to mention a property management company that helps clean them.

What is more bewildering is that drivers from whom the company extorted money in this way have reportedly called the police for assistance yet ended up having to pay more than the original fine.

The so-called administrative right to "manage" neighborhood roads does not include the collection of parking fees. Nor does a neighborhood committee have the authority to manage public parking, which belongs to administrative enforcement. There are clear boundaries that limit each responsible party's use of power, and they should be followed as designed.