Ola Electric Faces Legal Challenge from CE Info Systems Over Ola Maps Data Allegations The allegations were revealed on the day Ola held a media briefing to talk about its upcoming public issue.
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CE Info Systems, the parent company of MapMyIndia, has filed a legal notice against Ola Electric, accusing the company of unlawfully replicating its proprietary data to develop Ola Maps.
"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," said CE Info Systems in legal notice to Ola Electric, according to Forbes India.
The notice contends that Ola Electric's assertion of building Ola Maps solely through open map sources is incorrect.
CE Info Systems claims that Ola Electric's actions breach the terms of their 2021 agreement, which prohibits reverse engineering and co-mingling of data.
"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," the notice points out, according to Forbes India.
CE Info Systems emphasises that the alleged copying of its exclusive data for commercial gain constitutes a violation of intellectual property laws.
In early July, Ola Electric launched Ola Maps, replacing its reliance on Google Maps.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Ola, had said on X, "After Azure exit last month, we've now fully exited Google Maps. We used to spend Rs 100 crore a year, but we've made that 0 this month by moving completely to our in-house Ola Maps."
Ola Electric is also preparing for its initial public offering (IPO), scheduled to run from August 2 to August 6, with a price range of INR 72–76 per share.
The IPO, anticipated to be one of the largest in India this year, will mark Ola Electric as the first Indian electric two-wheeler company to list on the stock exchanges. The IPO's listing is expected to occur on August 9, in line with T+3 (closing date + 3 days) settlement rules.
