Tribunal stays Rs 169 cr penalty on Oyo

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday stayed a Rs 169 crore penalty imposed on Oravel Stays Ltd by the competition commission of India (CCI).

Oravel Stays Ltd operates under the brand name Oyo.

However, a two-member NCLAT bench while admitting the appeal filed by Oravel Stays Ltd (OSL) directed to deposit of 10 per cent of the penalty amount within six weeks.

"The appeal is admitted subject to a deposit of 10 per cent of the penalty amount which must be deposited within a period of six weeks.

"Deposit should be in the form of FDR in favour of Registrar, NCLAT," the order said.

The appellate tribunal has directed to list the matter on April 11, 2023, for the next hearing.

"In the meanwhile, Counsel for the parties are granted liberty to complete pleadings, which must be completed before the first week of February 2023," the NCLAT said.

Besides the fair trade regulator CCI, OSL has also made the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), Ibibo Group, MakeMyTrip India, Ruptub Solutions and Casa2 Stays parties.

The NCLAT is an appellate authority over the orders passed by CCI.

Last month, CCI slapped penalties totalling more than Rs 392 crore on online travel firms MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and hospitality services provider OYO for unfair business practices.

A fine of Rs 223.48 crore was slapped on Make My Trip-Goibibo (MMT-Go) and Rs 168.88 crore on OYO.

Among others, it was alleged that MMT-Go imposed a price parity in their agreements with hotel partners.

Under such pacts, the hotel partners are not allowed to sell their rooms on any other platform or on its own online portal at a price below the price at which it is being offered on the two entities' platforms.

Besides imposing penalties, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has directed MMT-Go to "suitably modify its agreements with hotels/chain hotels to remove/ abandon the price and room availability parity obligations imposed by it on its hotel/ chain hotel partners with respect to other OTAs (Online Travel Agencies)".

Also, CCI had asked it to modify agreements to do away with certain exclusivity conditions.

The regulator ordered a detailed investigation into the matter in October 2019.