COVID-19: OYO chief to forgo remaining annual salary, leadership team to take voluntary pay cuts

OYO Hotels and Homes on Thursday said its founder and group CEO Ritesh Agarwal will forego his salary for the rest of the year and its executive leadership team will take voluntary pay cuts as the hospitality industry reels under the COVID-19 pandemic.

This would be effective from April 2020 and the entire company is standing together to tide over these times, OYO said in a statement.

The company's entire executive leadership team has taken a voluntary pay cut starting at 25 per cent, with many opting for an additional uncapped amount, and some going up to 50 per cent to enable building the runway for the company, it said.

"Given the current business situation, which is unprecedented for our industry globally, I am foregoing 100 per cent of my salary for the rest of the year. I am grateful to my leadership team, that have also taken pay cuts and support the company during these tough times," Ritesh Agarwal said.

The company has assured that all employees in India, including over 10,000 people on payrolls and tens of thousands of OYO-managed assets’ staff will continue to receive their salaries and benefits without any interruptions during this unprecedented period of a countrywide 21-days lockdown, the statement added.