OYO, CEO Face FIR in Jaipur Over Fake Bookings & ₹2.66 Cr GST

FIR Against OYO and CEO Ritesh Agarwal in Jaipur Over Fake Bookings, Rs 2.66 Cr GST Shock

In a fresh controversy, hotel aggregator OYO and its founder Ritesh Agarwal have found themselves at the center of a criminal complaint in Jaipur, filed by a local resort that claims it’s been left holding the bag for a massive Rs 2.66 crore GST notice. The issue? Allegedly fake bookings that inflated the resort’s turnover on paper, while real business told a very different story.

Here’s What Happened

Madan Jain, associated with Samskara Resorts in Jaipur, approached the Ashok Nagar police station with serious allegations against OYO and its top management. The police have now filed an FIR based on his complaint.

According to Jain, the resort had entered into a one-year agreement with OYO on April 8, 2019. The arrangement was straightforward — OYO would help with both online and walk-in bookings.

But things didn’t go as planned.

The complaint claims that OYO started reflecting fake bookings in Samskara Resorts’ name across three financial years — 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21. Jain says the resort only operated with OYO during the 2019–20 period and earned just Rs 10.95 lakh from genuine bookings. Yet, OYO allegedly reported a turnover of Rs 22.22 crore — a number Jain says is completely fabricated.

The GST Aftershock

Due to this inflated turnover, the GST department slapped Samskara Resorts with a notice for unpaid tax to the tune of Rs 2.66 crore — a liability Jain insists is OYO’s doing. Now, with penalties and legal obligations piling up, the resort is in a bind.

The FIR includes serious charges under India’s newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including:

• Cheating
• Criminal breach of trust
• Forgery
• Criminal conspiracy

Not an Isolated Incident

This isn’t the first time fingers have been pointed at OYO.

According to the President of the Hotel Federation of Rajasthan, this kind of issue has been brewing for a while. In fact, the hotelier told The Indian Express that many hotels across Rajasthan have received similar inflated GST notices due to what they claim are bogus or exaggerated booking figures generated by OYO’s systems.

“There’s a history of trust issues,” the federation head said. He reminded that four years ago, more than 125 hotels across the state ran a joint protest campaign against OYO. Banners outside properties boldly declared: “We are not accepting OYO bookings.”

What Lies Ahead?

While the legal process unfolds, this case once again puts the spotlight on the growing tensions between aggregators and small hospitality players. And if the allegations hold water, the fallout could be significant — not just for OYO, but for how tech platforms engage with partners in the future.