OYO in a statement said that it will continue to work closely with its hotel partners for the closure of any pending claims.
This has come as a setback to multiple hoteliers which had approached the NCLT, with claims of defaults by the company.
Mint has reviewed a copy of the order.
Earlier in May, industry body Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) had stated in May that it was allowed by the NCLAT to act on behalf of the affected hotel owners in the insolvency case against OYO’s subsidiary. FHRAI had added that the claims registered with the interim resolution professional was estimated to be between ₹160 crore to ₹200 crore.
The claims of FHRAI members alone were of the tune of ₹70 crore to ₹80 crore, it said.
The matter came to the fore after RK Yadav filed a case with NCLAT, alleging OYO’s subsidiary to have defaulted on a payment of ₹16 lakh. In April, NCLAT, had ordered a corporate insolvency resolution process against OHHPL.
While Oyo and Yadav settled the matter out of court in June, NCLAT continued to hear the matter, based on claims of other creditors.
“We welcome the decision of NCLAT and that the matter has finally been laid to rest. We had already settled with the original claimant but subsequent interveners with vested interests who were not a party to the case had delayed its closure […] Despite today’s judgment, we welcome collaborative conversations with them and all other associations to work towards the resurgence of travel in India,” said Rohit Kapoor, chief executive officer, India and Southeast Asia at OYO.
In a statement, Khaitan & Co., the legal counsel of OYO in the case called the matter ‘straightforward’, since the related parties had already settled the matter.
“Throughout the matter, OYO has been forthcoming and committed to working together with all relevant stakeholders including Mr R K Yadav. It was a straightforward case where the two parties involved had settled the matter and there was no room for any interventions which has now been upheld by the Hon’ble Tribunal also,” said Khaitan & Co.
FHRAI is now looking to file an appeal challenging NCLAT’s order.
“The intervention was filed to reduce the hardship and avoid multiplicity of litigations. However, unfortunately, today the Hon’ble NCLAT has allowed the withdrawal as was petitioned by Oyo. Now, many hotels across the country facing extreme hardship on account of the shutdowns and closures will be put through additional hardship of filing separate claims. FHRAI may also consider filing an appeal against the order,” said Pradeep Shetty, joint honorary secretary, FHRAI.
This article was first published on livemint.com.
