Budget hotels form pan-India association, to boycott OYO

The Budget Hotel Association of Mumbai has formed a pan India association called Hotel Association Confederation of India (HACI) and is planning city wide boycotting of Oyo, upping the ante against the hospitality company which has been under fire for deep discounting and arbitrary contract changes.

In December, Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) told ET it is planning to approach the Competition Commission of India and tourism ministry on the matter and that all four regional associations under FHRAI (North, South, East, and West) are in line with the apex body's stance of nationwide protests if their demands are not met.

“Our new proposed organization, HACI, has the support of 47 pan India associations which have about 8000 hoteliers as members. Oyo has become more stubborn and our concerns still exist. They are trying to contact individual hoteliers, which is not useful. Our Oyo-listed partners in Jaipur will not accept bookings from January 15, which will be followed by other cities like Mysore and Shirdi and later Mumbai,” said Ashraf Ali, joint convenor, HACI.

Ali said about 50-60 hotels in Jaipur will join the drive if there is no amicable settlement by January 15 . Payments are held up and hidden charges levied by Oyo are a cause of concern which is frustrating hoteliers, Ali said.

HACI convenor Surya Prakash said the association will focus on tier two cities first. “The fundamental reason these players came into the market was that the industry was fragmented. We have also filed online petitions. There is a big flaw in the business model that has to be brought to light,” he added.

In a response to industry bodies raising concerns regarding breach of contracts and mismanagement, Oyo said the concerns and demands raised by hotel bodies were misguided and misplaced and were based on incorrect allegations made by small groups of people with vested interest.

Hoteliers have raised concerns around deep discounting, mismanagement of operations, arbitrary contract changes being sought by Oyo and other whimsical payment deductions being made by the platform.

Source:-https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/budget-hotels-form-pan-india-association-to-boycott-oyo/articleshow/67447132.cms