IPO-bound Ola Electric seems to be in a legal battle with MapmyIndia, the subsidiary of CE Info Systems and a major player in the Indian mapping industry. MapmyIndia accused Ola Electric of copying its data and technology to create its in-house mapping service, Ola Maps, which launched earlier this month.
Ola Maps aimed to reduce the company’s reliance on external providers like Google Maps and MapmyIndia. Moreover, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal claimed that this service would save the company around ₹100 crore annually. However, the company’s new mapping service has sparked a controversy.
Details of the Dispute
According to CE Info Systems, Ola Electric copied data and reverse-engineered its software to build Ola Maps. The legal notice claims that Ola Electric duplicated proprietary APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and SDKs (Software Development Kits) from MapmyIndia’s systems. Also, it alleges that Ola Electric breached its licensing agreement.
Ola Electric previously used the mapping services from MapmyIndia, including navigation for its S1 pro electric scooter in 2021. The legal notice claims that Ola Electric mixed MapmyIndia’s data with its own systems and used it to create Ola Map, thus infringing on MapmyIndia’s copyrights.
Response from Ola Electric
Ola Electric has denied the data theft allegations. A spokesperson for the company stated that the claims made by CE Info Systems are “false, malicious, and misleading.” He assured that Ola Electric adheres to the highest standards of business integrity and is preparing to respond to the legal notice.
CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, when asked about the legal dispute during the Ola Electric IPO press conference, said:
“This isn’t the right place to talk about it (legal notice). It is not part of the IPO discussion.”
Impact on the Mapping Industry
The Mapping industry in India is evolving rapidly. Tech giant Google recently cut its pricing for Google Maps services by 70%, making the market even more competitive. Moreover, MapymyIndia witnessed a 35% increase in revenue and a 25% rise in net profit for FY24. However, the legal dispute with Ola Electric could impact the company financially.
Meanwhile, Ola Maps decided to offer free 5 million API calls per month to attract many users, but the recent legal dispute might create uncertainty.
