As the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) called for a two-day strike against OYO over policy changes, the hotel chain has announced that it will be taking legal action against any person/groups who try to cause disruption of business and inconvenience to both customers and asset owners.
“OYO recently received an injunction from the Honourable High Court of Delhi that prevents individuals and vested interest groups from disrupting business operations of OYO Hotels and assures full support of the law in providing the freedom to OYO Hotels to conduct business as usual,” it said in a statement.
This comes after KHRA called for a two-day strike starting Wednesday alleging certain changes in its policy that is causing losses for hotel owners. About 67 hotels in Kochi associated with OYO have participated in the strike, during which bookings cannot be made in these hotels through OYO.
According to members of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA), OYO is making the hotel owners bear the charge of tariff reductions given to customers.
Ayush Mathur, Chief Supply Officer, India & South Asia at OYO Hotels and Homes said, “Most of the boycott claims are being made by small vested interest groups with no property franchised with or leased to OYO Hotels. As franchisors, we continue to engage with our franchisee hotel owners on a one-to-one basis to resolve issues and in case we don’t reach a mutually acceptable solution, part ways amicably. While we work towards addressing such issues, our primary focus is to ensure that the consumer at all times has access to affordable, reliable and good quality accommodations. However, some such individuals have also been threatening to cancel agreements and not accept online bookings, which will be a default of the contractual arrangements, and will lead to legal liabilities on these individuals as we cannot and will not let anyone hamper the customer experience. We will take strict legal action.”
Additionally, OYO, which is currently operating over 400 exclusive, leased and franchised hotels in Kerala has announced that it aims to invest Rs 100 crore towards capex, infrastructure and talent in the state. On the back of growing business in the state, the company also intends to open its second OYO Skill Institute in Kerala towards training and development of hospitality professionals.
This comes after OYO says it set up a dedicated fund of Rs 1 crore to support its partners with operational capabilities and upgrade their properties after the Kerala floods last year.
Currently, OYO has over 6,900+ exclusive rooms, 400+ hotels across 10+ cities in Kerala and claims to be doubling its presence and take the count of rooms to 10,000+ by the end of 2019.