INDIA

A Bengaluru Hotelier Filled A FIR Against OYO Chief Over Cheating

Mumbai: A Bengaluru hotelier has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against OYO’s chief Ritesh Agarwal as well as others in the company on Monday at Halasuru Police Station, in Bengaluru.

The case has been filed by Betz Fernandez, owner of Roxel Inn and has been registered by the Police vide Cr. No. 348/2019 under sections 406, 420, 120(B) r/w 34 IPC. Since 2019 the OYO has not fulfilled his promises as per the agreement and not paid his hotel INR 7 lakhs per month as a minimum guarantee. The OYO Cheif Ritesh Agarwal has continuously ignored the request of payment by Betz Fernandez.

“In the beginning, everything appeared like smooth sailing and, the terms and conditions of the agreed partnership were met diligently. But then, this lasted only for a few months. Gradually things changed with tweaks in the contracts that are favourable to them and now they have just completely stopped paying. After many attempts to remind and reason with them, I am forced to take this step,” says Alister Fernandez, CEO, Roxel Inn
The case was filed against the Rohit Srivastava, Head of South OYO; Madhvendra Kumar, Head Business Development OYO; Gourab De, Head Business Development & in-charge of property OYO; and Prateek Agarwal, Manjeet Singh and Mrinmoy Chakraborty from OYO’s Finance department. They are been told to present before the Sub-Inspector of Police on 7th Nov 2019.

The OYO is also under the radar of Competition Commission of India (CCI) due to the case filed by the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). The FHRAI is the 3rd largest Hotel & Restaurant Association in the world, it is the Apex Body of the four Regional Associations representing the Hospitality Industry. This case was identified under Section 26(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 by CCI investigation.

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) & Vice President, FHRAI said that “Time and again, we have expressed that the hotel industry, especially hotels in the budget segment are being exploited by Oyo. Under the garb of generating more business, Oyo has been arm-twisting the small and budget segment hoteliers for quite some time now. CCI’s order to investigate Oyo is a big breakthrough and the FIR registered against them by the Bangalore hotel owner is the first of many by other hoteliers across the country.”

Pradeep Shetty Jt. Honorary Secretary, FHRAI & Vice President, HRAWI concludes as “The FHRAI has informed the CCI about how Oyo presently leverages on the vulnerability of a hotelier and gets away with it without any consequence. Filing of an FIR is not something that any business person takes unless they are completely cornered and are left with no choice to deal with a bully. We stand with Mr Fernandez and will support him in this battle against the SoftBank funded Goliath. We have also issued an advisory to our members asking to reach out to the FHRAI for any unjust actions taken against them by Oyo. ”

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