A group of hotel owners in Rajasthan have launched serious accusations against hospitality giant OYO Rooms, run by Ritesh Agarwal. One FIR, filed by Madan Jain of Samskara Resorts in Jaipur, claims his property received a ₹2.66 crore GST notice for bookings that never took place—some allegedly before the hotel even existed. Jain alleges that OYO falsely inflated revenues on paper, pushing hotels into tax trouble with authorities.
According to multiple reports, Jain isn’t alone. Sandeep Gogia of the Rajasthan hotel operators’ collective says over 100 hotels have received similar tax demands. The fraud reportedly includes ghost bookings, which were auto-cancelled but still registered as income.
Bookings for Non-Existent Hotels, Crores in Dues
Two cases detailed by local hotel operators highlight the issue. In one, OYO showed bookings worth ₹22.51 crore at Samskara Resort, despite the property not being operational in 2016—the year from which tax authorities flagged revenue. The second involves the Kartikeya Hotel, which was served a recovery notice of ₹4 crore after GST systems reflected earnings of ₹44 crore in a single financial year.
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These revelations have prompted the hotels to accuse OYO of gross misrepresentation, raising red flags on the company’s reporting mechanisms and ethical practices.
A Growing Industry Headache
Hussain Khan, President of the Hotel Federation of Rajasthan, labeled this a systemic issue that could shake industry trust. The FIRs are seen as a last resort by hoteliers who claim to have exhausted all channels for redressal. Hotel operators say they’ve been left to deal with legal battles, interest penalties, and tax audits due to inflated GST liabilities allegedly triggered by OYO’s backend data manipulation.