The battle in the ‘Maps’ space has taken a new turn with MapmyIndia parent CE Infosystems sending a legal notice to IPO-bound Ola Electric, accusing it of copying its data to build Ola Maps. The company has accused Ola of saving MapMyIndia’s data and duplicating the software codes to introduce its Maps platform.
In 2021, MapmyIndia entered into an agreement with Ola Electric to offer navigation services for its S1 Pro electric scooter. As per the legal notice, CE Info Systems said Ola has breached the agreement by co-mingling and performing reverse engineering on the solutions it offered.
When contacted, MapmyIndia CEO Rohan Verma declined to comment on the matter.
“You have duplicated our client’s API (application programming interface) and SDKs (software development kits) from proprietary sources belonging to our client to build OLA Maps. It is firmly stated that our client’s exclusive data has been copied/derived by you to further your illegal motive and for your unjust commercial gains,” CE Info Systems said in the legal notice sent to Ola Electric.
“Your assertion that you have developed API and map data/Ola Maps solely through open map is factually incorrect and not tenable,” the company added.
According to a report by Forbes, when asked about the legal notice on the sidelines of the Ola Electric IPO press conference on Monday, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said: “This isn’t the right place to talk about it (legal notice). It is not part of the IPO discussion.”
The legal tussle assumes significance as Ola Maps recently forayed into the maps space, which is dominated by Google with homegrown MapmyIndia’s Mappls seen as the only alternative. Google also recently slashed the pricing of its Google Maps platform for developers in India by as much as 70%.
Earlier this month, Aggarwal launched Ola Maps and announced that Ola Cabs had completely exited Google Maps. This measure is expected to save the company `100 crore a year, he said. Aggarwal has also offered free one-year access to developers to adopt Ola Maps for their mapping needs.
The legal notice by CE Info Systems further said: “By indulging in such unscrupulous and illegal activities, you have acted in blatant defiance of the terms and conditions of the agreement and have further infringed the copyright vested exclusively in our client pertaining to the source code.
In FY24, CE Info Systems reported a 35% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 379 crore, while its net profit rose 25% to Rs 134 crore.
