Accommodation Scams in New Delhi

Hotel Redirection Scam

Taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers collecting tourists from Indira Gandhi International Airport or New Delhi Railway Station claim that the hotel the tourist has booked is closed, flooded, under renovation, or has lost its license. The driver may even pretend to call the hotel and hand the phone to the tourist — the call is actually to an accomplice posing as hotel staff who confirms the false story. Tourists are then taken to a commission-paying property in Paharganj or Karol Bagh that is typically lower quality and overpriced.