MapMyIndia has accused Ola Electric of stealing their data, leading to legal action against Ola Electric. MapMyIndia is an Indian Technology company that builds digital map data and specialises in GIS Technologies, location-based SaaS and telematics services.
Intellectual Property Theft Allegations
The allegation centres on Ola Maps, which is Ola Electric’s new digital mapping service that was launched on July 5th of this year. CE Info Systems, the parent company of MapMyIndia contends that Ola Electric illegally copied their data including combining different aspects of the licensed product and also reverse engineering their final product.
The notice released by MapMyIndia regarding the allegation states, “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.”
EV Data Race
India has the largest 2-wheeler EV market in the world. With a need for cost-efficient, greener and cleaner vehicles, Ola has scripted a winning story in the EV adoption in the 2-wheeler and the 3-wheeler market.
This notice comes along at the exact moment when Ola Electric is preparing for an Initial Public Offering which will go live on August 2(i.e. tomorrow) with an estimated price band of Rs 72-76 per share. The company expects to raise around Rs. 6146 crores through this IPO. This will be potentially the largest-ever Indian IPO.
This was the time when Google also responded to the Ola Maps announcement by reducing the pricing for Google Maps for developers in India by 70%, from August 1.
Google also announced India-specific features, including EV charging station information and AI-driven routing capabilities to reduce narrow road usage for four-wheeler drivers. This move had an unintended consequence on MapMyIndia, causing their share to fall close to 11% during intraday trading.
This case will set a big example of how data is handled in the Indian tech ecosystem.
MapMyIndia’s allegations against Ola Electric have ignited a high-stakes battle over intellectual property and data ownership. This clash comes at a critical juncture for both companies: Ola Electric is on the brink of a massive IPO, while MapMyIndia is facing increased competition from both Ola and Google.
