Man arrested over unpaid bill after staying at Delhi 5-star with family

A man has been arrested for allegedly refusing to pay a bill of Rs 3.65 lakh for staying with his family at a five-star hotel in Lutyens' Delhi, police said on Thursday.

According to the FIR, the assistant manager of the hotel said the guest and his family booked two single-occupancy rooms assuring the staff that the payment will be made on May 31.

They checked into the hotel on May 28 but the guest did not make the payment on the promised date, police said citing the First Information Report (FIR).

The guest allegedly breached the hotel's credit policy by showing fraudulent UTR (Unique Transaction Reference) numbers claiming that he had already paid Rs 6,50,000 through a bank transfer.

But upon checking, no such transaction was found to be made by him and when he was asked about it, he assured that the payment will be made on June 3. During this period, he enjoyed all the services -- including meals and bar -- and again on the assured date, he failed to make the payment, the FIR stated.

When confronted, he threatened the hotel staff that he would call the police and frame false allegations against them. He refused to pay and allegedly abused the hotel staff and damaged the hotel property, it said.

The man did not clear the bill of Rs 3,65,965, it added.

Based on the complaint, a case under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the guest and his family on Tuesday for staying and availing the hotel services without paying the complete bill amount, police said, adding the matter is being probed.