Domestic device makers and app makers may have received relief from the Competition Commission (CCI) against Google’s monopolistic practices in the Android space, but homegrown MapMyIndia, which works on geospatial data, continues to seek a level playing field with the US tech giant on the exploitation of satellite imagery.

Government of India regulations restrict domestic companies working with geospatial data related to satellite imagery but how Google is a US company, it is free from such restrictions.

“Private companies in India using satellite imagery for either consumer or enterprise use cases cannot output imagery with sub-meter resolution. However, Google Maps does not comply with this directive and offers consumers even finer and sharper resolution on their maps, making this regulation a gray area. In this way, Google is able to offer fine imagery on its apps, which we cannot, and this is definitely not a level playing field,” said Rohan Verma, CEO and Executive Director of MapMyIndia.

MapMyIndia offers multiple digital mapping, navigation and geospatial technology offerings and currently has a customer base of 2,000 corporate clients. “From 1995 to 2004 we were mostly B2B, selling technology to large companies, particularly in FMCGs like Coca-Cola and Marico. But in 2004 we launched our consumer internet mapping platform which was India’s first interactive mapping platform. But building a consumer-facing digital map is tough business and it took us 10 years to cover much of the country,” Verma said.

The company currently derives the majority of its revenue from enterprise customers in three main categories — corporate, automotive, and government. In addition, MapMyIndia directly offers professional maps and products to retail customers through Mappls app and GPS IoT enabled gadgets and devices.

“We now have about 95% digital map coverage in India alone and we are now using a combination of computer vision and AI to digitally map geographies. We’ve transitioned from just foot-on-the-road options to drones and crowd-sourced data to build more coverage, particularly for our 3D postcards,” he added.

MapMyIndia’s recently rebranded consumer-facing app, Mappls, also offers features such as real-time road conditions, traffic patterns and conditions, leveraging its partnerships with OEMs and mobility fleets. It has also extracted some 400 million geotagged photos, panoramas and videos from millions of kilometers of roads across India, which it plans to continue expanding. The company has made two notable acquisitions this year, including a 9.9% stake in Pupilmesh and a 26.37% stake in Kogo Tech Labs.

According to Verma, the first acquisition will allow MapMyIndia to offer logistics customers critical technology to further reduce their overall shipping costs, while the acquisition in the travel commerce space will allow the company to disrupt the hyper-local commerce segment. The company also plans to offer travelers location-based suggestions in navigation search results to increase engagement on its app. FE