Ola CEO Urges Indian Devs to Exit Google Maps: Offers ₹100Cr Credits

Ola Cabs’ Bhavish Aggarwal wrote today on X that it was time for Indian developers to “exit” Google Maps, and as an incentive, announced one-year free access to all developers to Ola Maps, accessible via the AI-driven Krutrim platform. Also, over Rs 100 crore in free credits will be allotted to registered developers.

Last week, the ridesharing company Ola exited Google Maps and shifted to in-house Ola Maps for cab operations. The move saved the company nearly Rs 100 crore a year.

Some months ago, Ola quit Microsoft Azure to shift to an in-house AI-driven management platform, Krutrim. Now, the Bangalore based company is pushing users to subscribe to their India-made platform. 

A blog attached to the X post, written by Aggarwal’s team, said that Ola Maps addresses India's unique mapping challenges using AI-powered algorithms and real-time data from millions of vehicles. The company outperforms competitors on location accuracy, search latency, and ETA accuracy. Ola Maps is designed to utilize diverse data sets and provide real-time updates for accurate mapping.

“We've been using western apps to map India for too long and they don't get our unique challenges: street names, urban changes, complex traffic, non-standard roads, etc,” Aggarwal wrote.

“We're outperforming competitors on location accuracy, search accuracy, search latency and ETA accuracy,” he shared.

After #ExitAzure, it’s time for 🇮🇳developers to #ExitGoogleMaps! 1 YEAR FREE access to all developers to Ola Maps on @Krutrim, more than ₹100Cr in free credits! https://t.co/K1JHFBlNt1

We’ve been using western apps to map India for too long and they don’t get our unique… pic.twitter.com/18l2GdzCkC

— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) July 8, 2024

He also wrote that Ola Maps uses a variety of data sources to provide real-time updates for accurate mapping data. 

The AI-driven data systems use data from millions of vehicles, Ola S1 with 360 cameras, open-source government data, OpenStreetMap, and proprietary sources to create essential map features. 

Last month, Aggarwal moved his company's workload to the in-house AI platform Krutrim, cutting ties with Microsoft Azure.

Social Media Reaction:

Aggarwal's post is being called out as hypocritical by some online users and hailed by others.

One user wrote: "Recreating what already exists won't get us there ". Visionary Founder, Bhavish Aggarwal"

Another user replied: "Initially I was confused why ola not using Google maps. Now I'm understanding the Moto. Great job team OLA "