BENGALURU: The OYO Group on Tuesday said it will file a counter FIR against the owner of Bengaluru-based hotel Roxel Inn for allegedly sensationalising a civil dispute and using influence to falsely implicate OYO CEO Ritesh Aggarwal and six others of the hotel chain.
OYO said the commercial dispute with Roxel Inn has been exaggerated with false allegations. “The hotel owner has used influence to initiate false criminal proceedings against us when the matter is purely commercial in nature,” a top OYO executive told TNIE. This is the second such FIR lodged against OYO in Karnataka.
“OYO Hotels & Homes will initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against the hotel owner, who is sensationalising a civil dispute to attract attention. On studying a similar matter where an FIR was wrongfully filed in September, the Karnataka High Court had recently stayed the adverse actions via an injunction in Bengaluru,” the company said in a statement.
The hotel group said it refutes the claims made in Roxel Inn’s complaint, which has been “wrongfully filed against our founder and six other office bearers, based on false allegations and exaggeration on a regular commercial dispute”.
OYO has been at the receiving end of a backlash from hotel associations in Bengaluru and Delhi, which accused Aggarwal of fraud and violating certain provisions of the contract, especially charge hikes.The associations approached the Competition Commission of India (CCI), accusing OYO and booking service MakeMyTrip of unfair business practices that have limited market access for others.
The CCI has observed that there is prima facie a case for investigation against OYO and MakeMyTrip.