MapMyIndia has initiated a lawsuit against Ola Electric, accusing the company of unlawfully using its data. The lawsuit claims that Ola Electric has copied data from MapMyIndia’s platform, leading to a legal dispute over intellectual property rights and data usage. This legal action highlights the ongoing issues related to data protection and the misuse of proprietary information in the tech industry.
CE Info Systems, the parent company of MapMyIndia, has accused Ola Electric of illicitly using its proprietary data. The company claims that Ola Electric has “copied” MapMyIndia’s data by merging and reverse engineering the licensed product.
According to a legal notice issued by CE Info Systems, “You have replicated our client’s API (application programming interface) and SDKs (software development kits) from proprietary sources owned by our client to create OLA Maps. It is explicitly stated that our client’s exclusive data has been copied or derived by you to advance your unlawful agenda and unjust commercial gains.” This development was first reported by Forbes India.
The notice continued, “Your claim that you developed the API and map data/Ola Maps exclusively through open map sources is factually incorrect and untenable.”
In response, Ola Electric has rejected the allegations from CE Info Systems. A company spokesperson stated, “We firmly assert that these accusations are false, malicious, and misleading. Ola Electric upholds the integrity of its business practices and will respond to the notice in due course.”
MapMyIndia did not respond to queries from ET.
Earlier this month, ride-sharing company Ola introduced Ola Maps, its digital mapping solution. According to a blog post, Ola Maps was developed using both proprietary and open data sources, including real-time data from the Ola fleet and open-source government data repositories like OpenStreetMaps.
Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ola, highlighted in a blog post on X that the company had completely transitioned from Google Maps to its in-house Ola Maps. “After our exit from Azure last month, we have now fully phased out Google Maps. Previously, we spent Rs 100 crore annually on Google Maps, but that expenditure is now zero thanks to our switch to Ola Maps,” Aggarwal said.
Following this move, global mapping leader Google significantly reduced its pricing for Google Maps for developers in India by 70%, the largest reduction ever. For developers working with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the discount was 90%.
While Ola Electric has asserted that its map was developed using open-source data and real-time information from its fleet, CE Info Systems strongly disputes these claims. CE Info Systems contends that Ola Maps was not developed solely with open data and accuses Ola of misusing confidential information and trade secrets from MapMyIndia.
A domestic brokerage has suggested that this situation could result in a market share loss for CE Info Systems, although it notes that Ola’s two-wheelers still offer MapMyIndia maps to customers. The brokerage considers this issue an isolated case and expects any market share impact to be limited to Ola’s two-wheelers.
In response, Ola Electric has labeled the allegations from CE Info Systems as false and misleading. A spokesperson from the company stated, “We firmly assert that these allegations are false, malicious, and misleading. Ola Electric maintains the integrity of its business practices and will respond to the notice appropriately.”
Meanwhile, Ola Electric, led by Bhavish Aggarwal, is preparing to raise up to Rs 5,500 crore through a new share sale. The promoters and selling shareholders are looking to offload up to 8,49,41,997 equity shares, amounting to Rs 645.56 crore, in an offer for sale (OFS). The IPO is scheduled to open on August 2, 2024, and close on August 6, 2024.
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