OYO Hotel Scam in Delhi: How Travelers Are Being Cheated

Booking hotels online has made travel easier, but it has also opened doors to new kinds of fraud. Recently, a traveler shared his experience on social media about being scammed by an OYO-listed hotel in Delhi. His story highlights the need for all travelers to stay alert while booking hotels through third-party apps.

The Incident

The traveler and his friend booked Hotel O City Light in Delhi through OYO for ₹1444 for two nights. The payment option was set as “pay at hotel.” However, upon arrival, the hotel staff increased the price to ₹2044 and refused to honor the original booking amount.

When the guests questioned this sudden hike, the staff bluntly said:

• “You have to pay the new amount if you want to stay.”

• “Even if you had prepaid online, we would not have given you the room.”

Left with no choice, the travelers paid the higher amount.

Issues With the Bill

The guests then contacted OYO’s customer care. OYO admitted that the hotel had modified the booking and assured the travelers that they could claim a refund if they submitted the original bill.

But the hotel created more hurdles:

• Initially, they refused to provide any bill, claiming OYO would send it by email.

• Later, they gave a bill under a different hotel’s name.

• When asked again, they finally issued a bill in their own name — but after checkout, the hotel sneakily went back into the OYO system and changed the booking price back to ₹1444, making it look like the guests had paid the original amount.

When the travelers submitted the bill to OYO, their refund request was rejected due to a “name mismatch” even though the address matched.

The Bigger Problem

This incident raises serious questions:

• How do OYO hotels get verified?

• Why can hotels freely modify booking prices even after confirmation?

• What happens to families or solo travelers who can’t afford the extra demand late at night?

If such practices continue, it could put travelers in unsafe and stressful situations.

Lessons for Travelers

1. Always take screenshots of your booking amount and details.

2. Confirm with the hotel via call before traveling.

3. Insist on a GST bill with the correct hotel name.

4. Report immediately to OYO (and social media) if discrepancies occur.

5. Keep backup options in case you are denied check-in.

This is not just one traveler’s story — similar scams have been reported by many. It’s important for companies like OYO to tighten their verification processes and ensure hotels cannot exploit customers this way.

For now, the best protection is awareness. If you’re booking through OYO or any aggregator platform, stay vigilant, double-check everything, and always keep proof of your payments.