Privacy can be hard to come by in India. Life is a social circle of relatives, neighbors and friends. In crowded cities, and watching eyes are everywhere.
Enter Oyo, the popular hotel booking platform. The company, backed by big names in the corporate business, is building a solid reputation as a gateway to “love hotels” for single couples. Inside its budget rooms, young couples who might otherwise be relegated to sneaking kisses in parks or shopping malls can display their passions behind closed doors.
Now, Oyo is retreating from its image as a haven of unity. This month, it revised its policy guidelines to give some partner hotels the discretion to deny rooms to young couples unless they provide proof of marriage.
So far, the change is only in effect in Meerut, a central city northeast of New Delhi. The company said that this new policy is a response to the complaints of civil society organizations and has been developed “in accordance with the sensitivity of the area.”
Oyo’s move sparked memes and backlash on social media, especially among 20-somethings. For many, it accentuated the tension between traditional values and the modern values that define the lives of millions of Indian youth.
Premarital sex remains highly frowned upon in this deeply conservative country, where marriages are traditionally arranged by families. It is widely seen as a misguided import from the West that is less restricted, and as an affront to Indian culture that should be policed or left unacknowledged.
Discrimination against premarital sex is about “family honor,” said Chirodip Majumdar, an associate professor at Rabindra Mahavidyalaya, a college in the eastern state of West Bengal. However, many young people are doing it anyway, research shows.
Attitudes about premarital sex vary by class, Mr. Majumdar, people who earn a lot of money look at you well. “They have more scope to socialize, more knowledge about birth control methods, more exposure to Western culture,” he said.
Many young people in India, too, have adopted liberal attitudes about dating and transsexuality across caste, caste and religion, which still often dictates arranged marriages.
Dating apps like Tinder are popular, as are hookups. A 2022 study published in the journal Sexuality & Culture found that 55 percent of young people in four Indian cities “participated in sex, indicating that attitudes toward sexual behavior may be changing.”
Neha, a 34-year-old consultant based in Bengaluru, said she and her husband used to rent rooms at Oyo twice a week when they were dating. Neha, who asked that her last name not be used, recalled the judgmental looks from hoteliers, including those who did not use the Oyo platform, who used to guide her.
In some hotels, the owners questioned their marital status before they were fired.
But Oyo became such a central part of their romance that when the couple got married in 2017, their animated video wedding invitation contained a reference to the hotel’s platform.
“Everyone knew we used Oyo,” Neha said, adding, “So we included it in our wedding invitation.”
The lack of private spaces in India to engage in partnerships creates a market for companies like Oyo.
It’s not uncommon to see young couples sneaking kisses in nearly empty movie theaters or under the arches of abandoned monuments in the sweltering Delhi summer heat. Bathroom stalls and shower stalls are all fair games. Cybercafes can be the place to do it.
In the acclaimed 2024 film “All We Imagine as Light,” which explores the intertwined lives of three women in Mumbai, one of the characters finds a deserted place to have sex with her boyfriend.
Manforce, which calls itself India’s best-selling condom brand, last year aired a series of funny commercials in which couples played in private corners of public places – a car, a park, a movie theater.
Oyo was founded in 2013 and is backed by investment companies, including SoftBank. It expanded into the United States in 2019, and last year bought the Motel 6 chain.
In India, it offers rooms for 500 rupees, or less than $6, a night, no questions asked. The platform became popular with small hoteliers, who by signing up to Oyo had to adhere to its standards and use its brand.
On Google, one of the first search queries for Oyo is “Can I live in Oyo with my girlfriend?” Although Oyo also caters to solo business travelers and other customers, the company relies on its image, offering room searches under filters such as “relationship mode.”
However, it is now pursuing more families.
In an ad released last year, a young couple sits at a dinner table with the woman’s family. Their marital status is unclear. After telling his father to book a weekend trip with Oyo, he looks at them, shocked.
When the couple says it’s fun with the family, the father expresses confusion: “What are you talking about?” The next frame shows the whole family entering the luxurious Oyo hotel. Dad then said, “This is what you’re talking about!”
Pragati KB responsible reporting.
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