Coronavirus impact | Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal to forego salary for rest of the year

The CEO and founder of OYO Hotels & Homes, Ritesh Agarwal will take a 100 percent salary cut for the rest of the year to enable building the runway for the company.

SoftBank backed-hospitality startup Oyo on April 2 said its founder Ritesh Agarwal is foregoing 100 percent of his annual salary with other company leaders taking pay cuts in the wake of the novel coronavirus which has hit the travel and tourism industry the hardest.

"The company's entire executive leadership team has taken a voluntary pay cut starting at 25 percent, with many opting for an additional uncapped amount, and some going up to 50 percent to enable building the runway for the company. This would be effective April 2020," Oyo said in a statement.

The decision to cut salaries follows a slew of layoffs at the startup, which has been in the news over the last few months for shutting down properties and changing its management structure.

The virus has put India and many other countries under lockdown, infecting over 9,00,000 people and killing 47,250, according to data from the World Health Organization.

"The current situation the world over is deeply concerning to each and every one of us. OYO is doing everything to support the world with its limited resources in this pandemic from making isolation centres to finding a safe place for first responders," Agarwal said.

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The company claims it is focusing on a two-pronged strategy to minimise the possibility of infection and maximise social distancing and hygiene.

Certain hotels are being identified to partner with hospitals for setting up safe, pay per use quarantine facilities. Certain others are focused on providing safe shelter to local and foreign tourists and travellers who are stranded in cities owing to the lockdown, Oyo said.

Oyo had reported a six-fold increase in losses at $330 million on a revenue of $951 million for FY19, according to regulatory filings.

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