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Travel can be tough for unmarried couples looking for a bit of privacy in India.<\/p>\n
Accommodations routinely decline to let this growing segment of the population share rooms \u2014 especially those looking to book a hotel in the city where they already reside.<\/p>\n
Which is why a change to a budget hospitality booking platform\u2019s policy in a small Indian city has drawn much attention both in and outside the country.<\/p>\n
It all started in early January, when OYO Rooms issued \u201cnew check-in directives\u201d for its partner accommodations in the northwestern city of Meerut, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Delhi, stating that hotels there could deny bookings from unmarried couples at their discretion.<\/p>\n
The move drew swift criticism online, as the brand has long presented itself as a safe haven for unmarried couples.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it launched that was their whole tagline, \u2018no questions asked,\u2019 to the point that everyone knows that that\u2019s what OYO is for: it\u2019s not just a hotel chain but a hotel for couples looking for privacy,\u201d a 25-year-old media professional who has booked with OYO in Delhi told CNN on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
Unlike in many countries, where it\u2019s common for unmarried couples to stay in a room together, Indian customs still heavily frown upon the practice.<\/p>\n
OYO, which launched in 2012, was one of the first platforms to offer a solution for this growing group of travelers, tagging hotels as \u201ccouple friendly\u201d on its app and website. Other start-ups such as Stay Uncle, Brevistay and Nestaway have since followed in OYO\u2019s footsteps and provide rooms by the hour and rental properties that assure safe access for unmarried couples.<\/p>\n
Many view OYO\u2019s u-turn, however small, as symbolic of the continuous clash between traditional Indian values and an evolving, modern society.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommonly we think of privacy as the right to be let alone or without interference or intervention but in the Indian cultural context, that actually goes against our cultural orientation, which is predominantly collectivist,\u201d said Shagufa Kapadia, a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and director of the Women\u2019s Studies Research Center at India\u2019s Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.<\/p>\n
OYO said that its decision, which is specific to Meerut, was a response to \u201cfeedback that OYO has received in the past from civil society groups\u201d in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we respect individual freedoms and personal liberty, we also recognize our responsibility to listen to and work with civil society groups in the micro markets we operate in,\u201d Pawas Sharma, OYO\u2019s North India region head, said in a statement announcing the policy change.<\/p>\n
An OYO ad released in 2024 plays on the company\u2019s existing reputation as a platform that offers rooms to unmarried couples looking for privacy and intimacy.<\/p>\n
In the commercial, a married couple is seen telling their parents that they have booked an OYO room and that their family should accompany them to \u201chave fun together,\u201d which elicits shocked looks around the dinner table.<\/p>\n
The ad then cuts to the family at an OYO hotel with a voice-over: \u201cThis is not that<\/em> OYO hotel.\u201d Many social media users considered the video, along with the recent move in Meerut, as attempts by OYO to rebrand itself as family-friendly.<\/p>\n According to Kapadia, the family unit has always been prioritized over the couple, and even after marriage the privacy granted to couples is \u201cconditional.\u201d<\/p>\n OYO\u2019s recent decision to allow hotels to turn away unmarried couples in Meerut can be seen as a way of appeasing the society in which they are operating, she added.<\/p>\n Kapadia noted that religious and right-wing groups often harass establishments for doing things deemed harmful to Indian society, such as providing rooms to unmarried couples in smaller cities like Meerut, which is located in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP).<\/p>\n UP is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and is headed by Chief Minister Ajay Singh Bisht, who goes by the name Yogi Adityanth and routinely dresses in a saffron garment similar to those worn by Hindu saints.<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond civil society groups now it\u2019s also the state which is interfering in private life, dawning a paternal character in an already patriarchal society that increasingly infantilizes its young people, especially women, as a means of control,\u201d Kapadia said.<\/p>\n CNN has contacted the district administration in Meerut for a response.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, managers of the Meerut hotels impacted by the new check-in directives appear to have mixed views.<\/p>\n \u201cI have nothing to say about whether such a policy is good or bad. The only thing is that we don\u2019t want any fingers pointed at us, we don\u2019t want any organizations or community groups to come knocking at our doors asking why we are letting such couples in,\u201d said the manager of one of 21 hotels listed on OYO in the city, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n The owner of another hotel in Meerut, who did not wish to be named, told CNN that it was up to him who he would let stay at his hotel and unmarried couples were not welcome.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely not. We don\u2019t allow it. We don\u2019t want anyone using it as a shady affair. That is wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my hotel. I have the right to choose who I let in. It doesn\u2019t matter if they have a booking on OYO or any other travel website, these are my values.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the owner did clarify that unmarried out-of-town couples might be able to stay there in \u201crare\u201d cases, he wouldn\u2019t tolerate locals due to the assumption that any unmarried couple would be using a hotel to have sex.<\/p>\n That\u2019s disappointing news for same-sex couples, who cannot legally marry in India.<\/p>\n Even being able to get a hotel room doesn\u2019t mean a same-sex couple can sleep easy.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old from Delhi identifies as a bisexual woman. She says that even at OYO hotels, it\u2019s impossible to avoid judging eyes. During a recent stay, she says, \u201cmy date looked like a tomboy so even though we were two girls it was kind of obvious and you could see they (hotel staff) had a problem with it.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a stain on the bed so we complained and the staff member just said \u2018So what? You just have to sit, right? There\u2019s a couch; you can sit there,\u2019\u201d she added.<\/p>\n If hotels listed on the OYO platform are free to deny accommodation to unmarried couples in a smaller city like Meerut, people looking for privacy will have nowhere left to go, she added.<\/p>\n \u201cI live with my family. I can\u2019t just bring someone over. In India it\u2019s very common for people, especially women, to continue living with their families until you get married,\u201d she said. While in Delhi there may be some alternatives, she believes that in cities like Meerut there are none.<\/p>\n However, one Meerut hotel owner told CNN that despite the new policy, his rooms would remain accessible to all couples.<\/p>\n \u201cTil there are high court orders saying that, you can\u2019t take action against any couple so long as they are adults, then there cannot be such a policy, there\u2019s nothing OYO can do about it,\u201d said Mukesh Gupta, owner of Hotel O Subhadra Residency, one of the top-rated OYO hotels in the city. His hotel was still tagged as \u201ccouple friendly\u201d on the app and website.<\/p>\n This issue is unlikely to go away. As the country modernizes, it\u2019s more common for couples to live together before marriage or want to get to know each other away from the prying eyes of their families.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning of our relationship, OYO was a big help to us because I don\u2019t know how we would have managed it at that time,\u201d said Terrance, 28, who did not wish to use his last name, about his relationship with his female partner.<\/p>\n Though the couple now resides together, they lived with family for much of their seven-year relationship.<\/p>\n Terrance says OYO\u2019s recent moves make him worried for the safety of other young couples in similar situations.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they don\u2019t have an option sometimes it can end in not such a good way, they might look for some shady place and it might end badly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kapadia, the professor, agreed that couples will always find ways to be together but a lack of safe spaces spells disaster, especially for women who have the false burden of carrying the family\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n \u201cIn India, parks are a space that a lot of couples use for intimacy and everyone knows about it and it\u2019s okay to an extent, but cops or park watchmen often take that opportunity to harass young couples as they know that they\u2019re probably together without their parents\u2019 knowledge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As Gupta pointed out, in India there are no laws against unmarried couples staying together at hotels, in their own cities or elsewhere. Despite this, hotel owners continue to deny them rooms, in several cases with the support of police or government authorities.<\/p>\n In 2015, police raided several hotels and lodges near Mumbai, rounding up dozens of couples. In that case, the Bombay High Court said that \u201cthe action of the police is in clear violation of right of privacy which has been protected by the Constitution of India and it is a facet of right to life which is guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2019, hearing a case of a similar nature a high court in Madras also held that \u201cthere are no laws or regulations forbearing unmarried persons of opposite sex to occupy hotel rooms, as guests.\u201d<\/p>\n When OYO was contacted for further clarification on their new policy in Meerut, they declined to comment.<\/p>\n Aside from the impact on Indians\u2019 right to privacy, Kapadia is also concerned about the long-term implications on tourism in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cIn many countries, couples choose to spend their lives together without marriage, so if hotel owners start denying them rooms it would not remain as appealing a destination,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n However, hotel owner Gupta said that the accommodations that chose to deny couples were likely more concerned with those who had local IDs.<\/p>\n Following the move from OYO, Tejas Gowda, a member of a militant Hindu nationalist group called Bajrang Dal, told reporters last week he had appealed to the police commissioner and administration in Bengaluru, India\u2019s tech hub, to implement a similar \u201claw\u201d banning unmarried couples from sharing hotel rooms.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should respect the tradition of our country,\u201d he said. \u201cBy allowing unmarried couples inside the rooms there are many illegal activities happening inside the state as well as the country.\u201d<\/p>\n These are the very demands that scare the 25-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to the Constitution we do have the right to privacy,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy are we shutting every damn door that these people can go to. Why is it anyone else\u2019s decision what people do in the privacy of a hotel room?\u201d<\/p>\n For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\nConcern for LGBT Indians<\/h3>\n
The rights of the unwed<\/h3>\n