End to Taxi Firm’s Permit Urged : Transportation: Panel delays recommendation on Checker Cab, which has repeatedly failed to provide promised services.

A Los Angeles city transportation panel recommended Thursday that the operating permit of one of the two taxi companies serving the San Fernando Valley be revoked, citing the firm’s repeated failure to provide promised services.

But at the request of the financially troubled San Fernando Valley Checker Cab Co., the Transportation Commission promised to wait 30 days before sending its recommendation to the City Council for final approval to give the firm time to try to square its debts with creditors.

Babaeian Transportation Co., the parent company of Checker Cab, hopes to pay off its debts by selling the taxi firm and its city operating permit to United Independent Taxi Drivers, which serves the central region of the city.

But some commissioners were at first hesitant about delaying the recommendation, saying it would allow Babaeian to “make out like a bandit” after failing to provide the services it promised the Valley under its 1992 franchise agreement with the city.

“It seems very clear that these people should lose their franchise,” Commissioner Carol Newman said. “We should not sanction their actions of the past.”

The recommendation comes as a result of a June, 1993, inspection in which transportation officials found that the company had failed to meet its franchise promise of installing a computerized dispatching system and providing seven wheelchair-accessible cabs.

Babaeian, which also operates in Burbank and Pasadena, won the right to operate 85 cabs in the Valley after a competitive and contentious bidding process in 1992, during which it fought off strong opposition from Valley Cab Co., which had been the Valley’s only taxi firm for eight years.

Babaeian won the bid in large part by promising to provide state-of-the-art transportation services, including the computerized dispatching system and wheelchair-accessible cabs.

But according to city transportation officials, Checker Cab has had a troubled three-year history in the Valley, including four disciplinary actions imposed by the city and several reprimands for missing deadlines to provide services.

“This is a company that is either unwilling or unable to meet the conditions of their franchise,” Alan Willis, a senior transportation engineer, told the appointed panel.

Mahmood Babaeian, a partner in Babaeian Transportation, apologized to the commission for failing to meet the franchise agreement, admitting that his firm “made a mistake.” But he said the firm has tried to meet its obligations and he requested the 30-day delay to allow officials to negotiate the sale of the company.

“None of us are perfect,” Babaeian said. “We are asking you to give us a chance.”

A representative for Empire Marine & Fire Insurance Co. also asked the commission for the delay in hopes of collecting $400,000 that he said Babaeian owes on insurance premiums and settlements.

Willis said Babaeian and the United Independent Taxi Drivers have yet to discuss how much Checker Cab and the franchise are worth. He said sale of a franchise agreement must be approved by the City Council. If the council rejects the sale, the city would request bids from taxi firms throughout the city to operate in the Valley.