A train passenger who occupied another rider’s seat and refused to move has caused fury in China, triggering debate about the role of on-board security personnel in enforcing order amid calls to deduct points from his social credit score.

The incident happened on Tuesday aboard a train running from Jinan City in east China’s Shandong Province to Beijing.

In a widely-circulated video, the man, identified by his surname Sun, could be seen slouching on a seat by the window. He refused to return to his reserved seat, which was reportedly a few meters away, ignoring calls from the crew and security guards aboard the train.

The man claimed he was not able to stand up and denied being drunk. When asked why he could not get on his feet, he said he did not know. He also asked the train attendant to offer him a wheelchair.

Despite being urged to give the seat back to the female passenger who had originally reserved it, Sun refused to cooperate, asking her to sit in his seat, stand, or simply go to the dining car.

Desperate to settle the issue, and with Sun refusing to budge, the woman was offered a seat in the business-class carriage for the rest of her journey.

The clip went viral, raking in 30,000 comments and 20,000 reposts, and sparking fury among netizens who expressed their outrage at the man’s misbehavior.

There were calls for the man to be punished by lowering his score on the social credit system.

The scheme is sort of a reputation system introduced in 2014 that keeps a running score of Chinese people’s social and economic behavior. Those with poor credit are penalized, including being banned from asking for loans and restricted from real estate purchases, among the punitive measures.

"Shouldn’t he be blacklisted [from getting aboard a train]?" commented @shaidupidelanmaojiang on China’s Twitter-like Weibo.

As of May 1 this year, China’s civil aviation authority started to ban poor credit performers, including those who forcibly occupy seats or overhead racks on trains and planes, from traveling by air. But the country’s railway administration has yet to issue similar regulations, according to the Global Times.

Others questioned whether the guards were overly permissible.

"The on-board police should take immediate measures. If the police can’t ensure that every passenger takes their own seat [aboard a train], anyone can sit anywhere they want, right? That’s a violation of public order," noted Weibo user @huakaideshengyin98447.

"Why can’t we do anything about him? Isn’t it unfair for those who obey the rules?" said another user, @deguolianren.

"We can’t take any enforcing measures if no severely harmful behaviors have been made," a staff member from Jinan Railway Administration told local media.

However, Zhang Hu, a Jinan-based lawyer, told online outlet Chinanews.cn that security personnel have the right to punish those who disturb public order aboard trains. Zhang added that according to the rules managing the social credit records of railway passengers, forcibly taking another passenger’s seat could be regarded as violation of transportation order and the railway bureau should implement measures to punish them.

Following the buzz the clip has created, Sun posted a video on Weibo apologizing for his misconduct, and regretting what he has done. He admitted his fault, and hoped the public could forgive him and give him another chance.

On Thursday, Jinan Railway Administration weighed in on the matter, saying that Sun’s bad behavior was a moral issue that did not amount to a crime. Meanwhile the Jinan Public Security Bureau said an investigation into the incident was still underway, according to Chinanews.cn outlet.