MapmyIndia, a homegrown digital mapping company, has called the announcement of Ola Maps a “gimmick.” It follows a legal notice to Ola Electric from the mapping company, sent on July 23, on claims of data theft to build Ola’s mapping service.
Ola Maps, intended to be an alternative to Google Maps, was launched on July 8, 2024. Since then, it has been criticised for accuracy problems and glitches. Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Cabs, said that the service with AI-powered algorithms outperforms “western apps” and addresses India-specific challenges.
After Google Maps announced 70 percent reduced prices for Indian developers, Aggarwal replied with Ola Maps at half the cost of Google’s discounted rates, alongside five million API calls per month for all users and up to three years of API calls per month for startups and small businesses at no cost on ONDC. Following the price reduction, MapmyIndia filed a legal notice against Ola Electric.
In the legal notice, MapmyIndia accused Ola of breaching the terms and conditions of the licence agreement it had signed with the company to use the former’s APIs and SDKs in 2021. Rohan Verma, CEO of MapmyIndia, said that ANI Technologies signed a licence agreement with MapmyIndia to use map data in 2015.
In its recent Red Herring Prospectus, Ola stated that Ola Maps is owned and run by Geospoc Pvt. Ltd., a startup acquired as an ANI Technologies subsidiary. Verma questioned the legitimacy of the startup and said that its bona fides and investments, or lack thereof, should be investigated before and after Ola’s acquisition. He alleged that Ola Electric got hold of its APIs and SDKs with the agreement and used them with Ola Maps software.
The MapmyIndia CEO’s accusations are based on company financial records, stating that developing a navigational map of a large country would require large investments and expertise.
Verma further said that Ola Maps poses no risk to MapmyIndia as Ola faces repeated glitches. An Ola spokesperson denied MapmyIndia’s accusations.
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