MapMyIndia has issued a legal notice to Ola Electric accusing it of copying its data days after Ola launched its own mapping service –– Ola Maps –– in India. MapMyIndia alleges that Ola Electric breached their licence agreement, which was signed in 2022, when Ola Electric partnered with MapMyIndia to provide navigation services for the S1 Pro electric scooter. The agreement reportedly prohibited Ola from combining the licenced product with any other competing product, engaging in reverse engineering, or attempting to extract or copy the source code from any API of the licenced product or related software. MapMyIndia claims that Ola Maps copied its mapping data, which violates the licencing agreement signed in 2021. India Today Tech has reached out to both Ola Electric and MapMyIndia for a statement. We have yet to receive a response from either of the companies. MapMyIndia’s parent company, CE Info System, is pursuing legal action, both civil and criminal, against Ola Electric. Forbes India was the first to report on this development. In the first week of July, Ola made headlines for droping Google Maps and Microsoft Azure, and opting for its own Ola Maps to save costs and offer India-first services. Ola’s decision to transition from Google Maps to Ola Maps was aimed at yielding significant savings, reducing annual costs by Rs 100 crore. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said at the time of launch the company previously spent Rs 100 crore each year on Google Maps, but they have now eliminated this expense entirely by adopting their own mapping service, Ola Maps.
In 2004, MapMyIndia introduced the country’s first portal providing interactive maps, local search, and directions with the launch of MapmyIndia.com. By 2007, they had unveiled the All India GPS Navigator, which went on to become a popular navigation device for several cars in India. Over the years, MapMyIndia expanded its offerings to include navigation solutions, real-time traffic updates, and location-based services. Their digital maps cover over 7.5 million kilometres of road networks and 10 million points of interest across India. The conflict between MapMyIndia and Ola Electric underscores the competitive nature of the digital mapping industry in India. MapMyIndia, a longstanding player in the market, is defending its proprietary data and intellectual property against what it sees as an infringement by Ola Electric, a company that has rapidly expanded its footprint in the electric vehicle market and now in digital mapping. As Ola Electric seeks to reduce costs and enhance its technological autonomy, the company’s shift from Google Maps to its own mapping service is a strategic move. However, this has led to friction with existing partners and competitors. Interestingly, days after Ola Electric launched its maps in India, Google responded by reducing the developer prices by 70 per cent. This also shows the impact of new competition on the established players in the industry.
