MapMyIndia accuses Ola Electric of copying data; sends legal notice

CE Info Systems, the parent company of MapMyIndia, has sent a legal notice to Ola Electric for allegedly copying the former’s data as the Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm launched its own mapping service in India.

In the legal notice, MapMyIndia claimed that Ola Electric breached the license agreement. In 2022, Ola Electric onboarded MapMyIndia to offer navigation services for its S1 Pro electric scooter.

As per MapMyIndia, Ola was prohibited from co-mingling the licensed product with another similar competing product and indulging in any reverse engineering or making any attempt to extract/ copy the source code from any API of the licensed product or any related software.

Ola Maps cached, saved our data which is a violation of the licensing agreement signed in 2021, asserts MapMyIndia in the notice. The Delhi-based firm also added that it will initiate appropriate legal action, both civil as well as criminal, against Ola Electric.

"...We would like to state unequivocally that these allegations are false, malicious and misleading. Ola Electric stands by the integrity of its business practices. We will suitably respond to the notice shortly," said an Ola Electric spokesperson in a statement.

Forbes India reported the development first.

Earlier this month, the Bengaluru-based firm launched Ola Maps as an alternative to Google Maps. The firm also shifted its operations to its in-house mapping service by transitioning from Google Maps. As per Aggarwal, this measure is expected to save Rs 100 crore a year his company.

In response to Ola Maps’ free offerings, Google also slashed the pricing of Google Maps platform for developers in India by as much as 70%. The tech giant also said that it will give a 90% discount to developers working with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

MapMyIndia was listed on the stock exchange in December 2021. The company reported a 35% surge in its net profit to Rs 38.2 crore in the last quarter of FY24 with an operating revenue of Rs 106 crore.

Ola Electric is also set for the stock market debut on August 2. 

Update: We have updated the story with an official statement from Ola Electric.