NEW DELHI: Roseate House, a five-star hotel near Indira Gandhi International Airport, has claimed a financial loss of Rs 58 lakh after a guest, in connivance with some hotel staff, stayed there for nearly two years without paying a single penny.

The accused staff allegedly tampered with the in-house billing system, allowing the guest to stay there for 603 days without any payment.A hotel official has filed a complaint, allegingAnkush Dutta, in connivance and conspiracy with hotel staff, had caused huge wrongful losses to it.

“Dutta, from Assam, checked into the hotel on May 30, 2019 and booked a room for one night...

He submitted a copy of his passport as the proof of his identity.

He did not leave on May 31, but kept on extending his stay till January 22, 2021,” the complainant said.The complaint also named Prem Prakash, the head of the front office department who decided the room rates and other charges and was responsible for receiving outstanding dues from guests.

Being the HOD, he was maintaining the bills of outstanding dues and had an exclusive ID and password through which he could access all guests’ accounts, the complainant said.

Although Dutta did not clear the dues, his stay was continuously extended by Prakash in contravention of the standard operating procedure for high-value outstanding long-stay guests, and he also did not send daily reports of Dutta’s outstanding dues to senior officials.According to hotel norms, a document is to be generated daily about the guests whose payment is due for more than 72 hours.

“According to the instruction, only one bill is to be created against one guest, and details should be send to the chief executive officer (CEO) and the financial controller (FC) for their information and instruction,” the complainant added.However, no pay master report showing Dutta’s pending dues was prepared by Prakash until October 25, 2019, the complainant alleged, adding that the reports of other guests were sent daily to the CEO and the FC, but Dutta’s name was removed to keep the management in the dark.

Dutta had also paid fake cheques, the complaint stated.