Railways and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has said that Mappls has very good features and people should try it. Let us tell you that Mappls is the indigenous rival of Google Maps. But very few people know that MapmyIndia was started even before Google Maps.
After indigenous instant messaging app Arattai, now indigenous navigation app Mappls is making headlines. This google maps Is being seen as an Indian challenger. We spoke to Rakesh Verma, co-founder and chairman of Mappls’ parent company MapmyIndia.
Left America and shifted to India and created indigenous navigation.
Rakesh Verma, co-founder and chairman of MapmyIndia, told us that he had started MapmyIndia even before Google Maps. Rakesh Verma and his wife earlier lived in America. He himself worked in General Motors, while his wife was in IBM. Left America and came to India and made an indigenous navigation platform.
Rakesh Verma said in an exclusive interview to AajTak Tech that Mappls is completely based on the Indian system and the data is stored locally. He also clearly said, ‘We do not sell users’ data for any advertising or commercial use. This is what makes us different from other companies’
MapmyIndia’s journey, 30 years old story..
MapmyIndia was started about 30 years ago, i.e. in 1995. Rakesh Verma returned to India in the 90s after living in America for about 12 years and started working on his vision.
He says that in 1995 he believed that digital maps could be the next big thing. This idea was of both Rakesh and his wife. From then till now both of them are running this vision together. Verma said, ‘We had an idea that in the coming time, location will be linked to every data. MapmyIndia was started to fulfill the same need.
India had its own map company even before Google Maps.
The story is interesting. Google Maps was not actually Google’s in the beginning. It was created in Australia by two brothers named Lars and Jens. Initially it was just a C++ desktop program. Google bought it in October 2004 and launched it as a web app in 2005.
On the other hand, the story of MapmyIndia started in 1995 itself, i.e. 10 years before Google Maps.
Rakesh Verma believes that due to Google’s monopoly, inbuilt Google Maps is provided in all smartphones, due to which Mappls do not get equal opportunity. He said, ‘If the government wants, Mappls can be included as an option by giving mandate to smartphone companies under the PLI scheme.’
Mappls will work on feature phones too!
Rakesh Verma told that the company is now working on providing Mappls service in feature phones. In the coming time, Mappls will also run on phones which are not smartphones, so that people in villages and small towns can also take advantage of the indigenous navigation app.
MapmyIndia is already present in Indian cars
Very few people know that MapmyIndia is not just an app but a listed company working in partnership with many car companies. Almost 80% of connected cars sold in the country have inbuilt navigation system from MapmyIndia.
Initially, many mobile companies like Lava and Micromax used to buy navigation services from MapmyIndia, but when Google Maps started becoming the default in smartphones, the companies stopped buying. After this, MapmyIndia partnered with car manufacturers and started providing map services in the backend.
Google’s monopoly is the biggest roadblock!
Rakesh Verma told that Google’s ecosystem is very strong and Mappls got setback due to its monopoly. From Android smartphones to WhatsApp, Google Maps is found by default everywhere. Verma says, ‘In other countries, users get the option to choose the map of their choice, but this facility is not available in India. We want that here also people should get the option to choose maps.
For example, if someone has sent you the location in WhatsApp and you want to do navigation, then Google Maps opens by default. There should be an option to choose map service here also.
Will Mappls be available in Arattai?
Zoho’s chatting app Arattai is becoming quite popular. Rakesh Verma said that currently Google Maps is the default in Arattai, but he wants the company to keep Mappls as the default map. However, he also said that it would be a good thing if the user gets the option of Google Maps and Mappls there also.
Story changed after meeting PM Modi
Verma told that earlier the policy regarding mapping in India was very strict. In 2020, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and by 2021, the government eased the navigation policy. The company’s IPO came in the same year and MapmyIndia became a listed company.
Google gets a shock of Rs 1000 crore, still the situation remains the same
It is noteworthy that in 2022, CCI (Competition Commission of India) imposed a fine of Rs 1000 crore on Google, but Rakesh Verma says that the ground situation has still not changed. Many different lawsuits are going on against Google, one of which is that Google takes advantage of its market dominance through the policy of Play Store. He said, ‘We cannot preload, whereas Google is the default. We want a level playing field’
Ashwini Vaishnav Appealed, ‘People should try Swadeshi Mappls’
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has said that Mappls has many great features and people should definitely try it. The government is also now moving towards promoting such indigenous digital products.
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