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FIR against OYO in Jaipur over fake bookings, hotel chain refutes claims
The FIR, which was filed at Jaipur's Ashok Nagar police station, was based on a complaint by Madan Jain of Samskara Resorts
A Jaipur-based resort, M/s Samskara Resort, has filed a police complaint against hospitality giant Oravel Stays Limited, commonly known as OYO, accusing the company of providing false financial information that led to a ₹2.66 crore Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice.
The First Information Report, lodged at Ashok Nagar Police Station, was filed by Madan Singh Jain, representing Samskara Resort. The complaint alleges cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). While the FIR names Oravel Stays Limited, the involvement of OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal remains unconfirmed in official court records.
According to the FIR, Jain claims OYO inflated the resort’s turnover by reporting fake bookings, including for periods during which no contractual agreement existed between the two parties. Samskara Resort maintained a 12-month agreement with OYO starting April 18, 2019, under which it received bookings worth ₹10.95 lakh and paid GST accordingly. However, OYO allegedly reported business worth ₹22.22 crore on behalf of the resort, prompting tax authorities to issue a GST demand notice of ₹2.66 crore.
The resort further alleged that OYO continued to show bookings for financial years 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21, even though there was no active agreement for those periods.
OYO has strongly denied the allegations, calling them “false and misleading.” The company claims it had only reported commission receipts from 2017 to 2019 and emphasized that Samskara Resort failed to provide booking records or relevant agreements to support its accusations.
On April 22, 2025, the Rajasthan High Court issued an interim order in S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous (Petition) No. 2358/2025 (Oravel Stays Private Limited vs State of Rajasthan & Ors.), directing that no coercive action be taken against OYO in relation to the FIR. The court noted that a Division Bench had previously dismissed a related civil writ petition (No. 3261/2025) filed by Samskara Resort, citing a lack of supporting documentation from the complainant.
OYO has also filed a defamation suit (CS (Comm) 354/2025) in the Delhi High Court, seeking to restrain the publication of what it describes as defamatory content and to protect its brand reputation. On April 24, the Delhi High Court granted interim relief, allowing the company to present its version of events. The court directed news outlets to publish OYO’s comments — including the Rajasthan High Court’s April 22 order — with the same prominence as the original reports.
