'Ola Maps a gimmick': MapmyIndia CEO Advises People To Be Cautious

In an interview with PTI, MapmyIndia CEO Rohan Verma questioned Ola's claim of creating its own navigation map of India, labelling it a gimmick. He stated that accurate maps require significant investment and expertise, which Ola reportedly lacks. 

Verma also expressed concerns about the poor quality of Ola's maps and denied any risk to MapmyIndia's business due to Ola's perceived lack of quality.

Verma said, "We don't see a business risk, because we don't see a good product coming from there. People are complaining left, right and centre, about their (Ola) updated cab app, their updated electric vehicle app, that their maps are pathetic and causing users problems. Everybody knows that these are more announcements and gimmicks, but the quality of that product," he said. 

Verma added, "If any well-meaning Indian goes to visit www.openstreetmap.org, they themselves will realise why it shouldn't be used. The accuracy of these various competitors' maps is definitely something that people will find very much lacking. It's not easy to build an accurate map. On the product side, people should be very careful of these gimmicky, Fly By Night products," Verma said.

When ET asked Ola about Verma’s comments, they strongly refuted MapmyIndia's “baseless claims” and stood by the integrity of its business. Ola said they have responded to MapmyIndia's legal notice, and will take all necessary steps to protect its interests.

MapmyIndia recently sent a legal notice to Ola for breaching the terms of the 2021 license agreement. The agreement allowed Ola to use MapmyIndia's APIs and SDKs for navigation. ANI Technologies had signed a similar deal back in 2015.

Social Media Reaction:

Online users seem to be quite critical of the Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal.

One user wrote, " don't believe Bhavish at all. I'm all but certain that they stole MapMyIndia's data"

Another user commented, "Bhavish cannot stay away from controversies XD"