OYO moves Delhi High Court to restrain media from reporting on FIR for fake bookings

The Delhi High Court today issued notice on a plea filed by OYO Hotels & Homes seeking to restrain media portals from publishing allegedly defamatory news reports concerning the company and its founder, Ritesh Agarwal, in connection with a FIR registered in Rajasthan..Justice Amit Bansal, who heard the plea issued notice to the defendants and also permitted OYO to approach the news publications with their version of the story and a copy of the Rajasthan High Court order that stayed the FIR."In the said event, the news publications shall duly publish the same,” the Court ordered. . Hospitality aggregator OYO Hotels & Homes (OYO) is embroiled in a legal and regulatory dispute concerning alleged violations of State laws governing hotel operations, taxation, and consumer rights.The core of the dispute lies in allegations by hotel associations and state authorities that OYO has been engaging in unfair trade practices, non-compliance with local tax regulations, and imposing arbitrary terms on partner hotels. Several hotel owners in Rajasthan, particularly in Jaipur, Udaipur, and Jodhpur, have accused OYO of deep discounting practices, delayed payments, unilateral changes to contracts, and failure to deposit applicable Goods and Services Tax (GST) collected on bookings.Samskara Resort in Jaipur filed an FIR against OYO and its founder, Ritesh Agarwal, alleging that OYO inflated its earnings by showing fake bookings amounting to ₹22.5 crore, resulting in a GST notice to the resort. The FIR claimed OYO used similar tactics across multiple hotels and resorts in the State, leading to tax recovery notices against them..On April 23, 2025, the Rajasthan High Court stayed any coercive action against OYO in the fake booking and GST notice case. OYO has now sought an order against media outlets on allegations that they wrongly reported a one-sided version of the case and without seeking seeking OYO's comments on its side of the story. The FIR is false and malicious, OYO has maintained. .Senior Advocate Satvik Varma appeared for OYO before the High Court and contended that several news articles relating to the FIR filed by Samskara Resort in Jaipur were published without seeking comments from the company, thereby disparaging OYO's name and the mark. .In light of the Rajasthan High Court stay, Varma sought for an ex-parte order restraining the news publishers from publishing malicious articles against OYO.Alternatively, he asked the Court to permit OYO to run its version of the story. OYO also sought for directions against the usage of their trademark and Ritesh Agarwal's picture in the allegedly defamatory articles..While the Court today refused to pass any interim orders, OYO has been permitted to run their version of the story. Senior Advocate Varma, who appeared for Oravel Stays Limited (OYO), was assisted by Advocates Manish Dhir, Shantanu Parmar and Balram.