Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal Slams Google For Reducing Maps' Fee: 'Too Little Too Late'

Unhappy with the reduction in the price of its Google Maps platform for developers, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal lashed out at the tech giant. In a fierce X (formerly Twitter) post, Bhavish Aggarwal criticised the company for reducing the prices “too late,” further announcing that he would announce major updates for his Ola Maps. Notably, Google has announced 70 per cent in Google Maps’ API prices for Indian developers from August 1, a week after the Ola CEO offered one-year free access to this platform.

“Dear Google, too little too late! Reducing prices for Google Maps, “offering to price in ₹” after #ExitGoogleMaps. Don’t need your fake generosity! Tomorrow, I’ll be writing a blog response and announcing major updates on Ola maps @Krutrim. Stay tuned!” he wrote.

However, these remarks didn’t go well with a lot of users, who took to the comment section and called him out. “When you reduce the price for the product is fair and alright when they have done it, you call it Fake?” a user wrote.

Another commented, “You were using Google Maps earlier. Now that you have your own OlaMaps, you started abusing Google. This isn’t a right spirit or very cheap show of professionalism.”

A user even pointed out the issues with Ola maps and wrote, “Hi bhavish. I think it’s fantastic that you are deciding to be self-reliant and also paving the way for other Indian businesses to use the Indian Map service. But Ola Map is bad right now. Top many location/Lane errors. As a daily user, I feel, there is a lot of scope to make it better. Hope you will take this seriously.”

On the contrary, a user showed support for Ola’s initiative, “From running cabs to building scooters to building maps – the company is going through quite a churn. Good luck fighter!!”

The conflict between the tech companies continues to intensify as Bhavish Aggarwal has announced a further reduced price structure and a future product roadmap for Ola Maps. Previously, Aggarwal revealed that Ola Cabs would develop its own in-house Ola Maps, a move expected to save the company Rs 100 crore.