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An alleged modus operandi of a taxi driver prompted the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to issue a 30-day preventive suspension on the franchise of Dadz Taxi, the ABS-CBN news reports.

The owners of Dadz taxi company are facing legal issues after one of its passengers filed a complaint in LTFRB, Quezon City. The victim, whose identity is withheld, claimed that the cab driver sprayed a chemical on the air-conditioning system, which made her weak. The incident happened along Tomas Morato, Quezon City around 2 p.m. last October 19. The victim was riding Dadz taxi with plate number UVW-243.

In the passenger's sworn statement, the taxi driver of Dadz allegedly turned the aircon up and the complainant then heard him spray something twice.

It smelled of vanilla, she recalled. The driver rolled down his window and before long, the complainant started feeling dizzy and weak. The taxi passenger started looking for the plate number of the vehicle and managed to text a friend. She then rolled down her window and demanded the cab driver to stop and drop her off a nearby gas station. She gave him Php 100 and got off the taxi. She then posted the incident on Facebook after 2 days and reported it to Quezon City Police District Station 10 the following day.

The owners of Dadz taxi reportedly attended the hearing session that was set up by LTFRB. Dadz identified the driver as Ronald Allan Kelly. They said, the suspect has been with them for two years now and has no criminal record. The operators of Dadz taxi, however, complained about the victim's move to post and spread the incident on the social media instead of reporting it directly to the police.

In a phone interview, Ronald Kelly explained that what he sprayed that day was simply a fabric conditioner. The cab driver said that spraying fabric conditioner on the carpet will get rid of bad odor. The Dadz taxi driver added he is willing to face his complainant.

In response to the incident, the management of Dadz taxi said they have prevented their driver from taking the car out since October 22. They've lost around Php 40,000 in revenue. Dadz owners said if the complainant will fail to prove that their driver did something criminal, counter charges for the damage will be filed against her.

Meanwhile, the LTFRB will endorse the case to the police for the appropriate criminal charges. According to the government agency, there are 7 other similar complaints. But the hearing for all 7 has been rescheduled due to the non-appearance of its complainants. The LTFRB, for its part, will also enhance rules on taxi drivers and operators to prevent similar complaints. They will design a new ID system for taxi drivers and have also ordered taxi operators to disable the child lock feature on their units. -a report from ABS-CBN news