A New Town-based tech professional and his 14-year-old son were allegedly refused accommodation at a hotel in Noida’s Sector 44 on Tuesday, reportedly because they were Bengali, The Times of India reported. The boy, a national-level skater, had travelled with his father to participate in a championship in the city.
According to the father, his booking—made via OYO for a two-night stay—was cancelled by the receptionist, who claimed the local police had instructed hotels not to allow guests from Bangladesh, Punjab, or Jammu & Kashmir until August 15, citing security concerns.
“I told them we are from West Bengal, not Bangladesh. But the receptionist insisted it was the same thing and refused to accommodate us,” the man told TOI.
He said he contacted OYO multiple times before finally getting through to a customer care executive, who promised a refund within 7–10 days. Left with no choice, he booked another hotel in Sector 49, which was much farther from the skating venue where registration was scheduled to begin early the next morning.
In a statement to TOI, OYO apologised for the incident, confirmed that the hotel — Meera Eternity — had been delisted from its platform the same day, and said an internal inquiry had been launched. “OYO has neither received nor issued any directive to hotels to impose such restrictions. We do not endorse any form of discrimination,” the company said.
Noida DCP Yamuna Prasad told TOI there was no official order preventing hotels from hosting visitors from Bengal or any Indian state. “Hotels are advised to check ID and visa documents of guests from Bangladesh, but there is no directive to deny stay to even Bangladeshi nationals if their papers are valid,” he clarified.
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