‘Bengal same as Bangladesh': Kolkata father, son denied Noida hotel room; OYO drops property

Mint

7 hours ago

An IT professional and his 14-year-old son from Newtown in West Bengal's Kolkata were allegedly refused a room by a hotel in Sector 44 of Noida and their booking was cancelled because they were Bengali, according to The Times of India report.
The incident took place at Meera Eternity hotel on Tuesday.
The boy, a skater, had travelled with his father to participate in a skating championship in Noida.
According to the TOI report citing the IT professional, his booking, done via OYO for a two-night stay, was cancelled by the receptionist, who allegedly said the local police had asked hotels not to allow guests from Bangladesh, Punjab, or Jammu & Kashmir until 15 August due to 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 father told TOI.
The father said he made several calls to OYO before a customer care executive finally answered and assured him the amount would be refunded within 7–10 days. 'I had no choice but to check into another hotel in Sector 49, far from the arena,' he said, adding that he had originally booked the Sector 44 hotel for its proximity to the skating rink, where registrations were scheduled to begin early Wednesday.
OYO has apologised for the incident and said the hotel, Meera Eternity, had been removed from its platform the same day.
An internal inquiry has also been ordered, it added.
'OYO has neither received nor issued any directive to hotels to impose such restrictions. We do not endorse any form of discrimination,' OYO said in a statement to TOI.
Noida DCP Yamuna Prasad told TOI there was no official instruction from Noida Police directing hotels to deny entry to people from Bengal or any other state. 'Hotels are told to check the ID and visa documents of people from Bangladesh, but there is no directive to disallow even Bangladeshi residents if they have proper papers,' Prasad said.