MapMyIndia's Rakesh Verma Seeks Policy Push For Preloaded Mappls Amid Download Surge

MapMyIndia Chairperson Rakesh Verma has called for a policy intervention to promote Indian-built mapping solutions on domestic smartphones, saying the company requested that Mappls, its flagship navigation app, come preloaded on Indian handsets in place of global alternatives.

"We have requested a policy push for Indian handset manufacturers to have pre-downloaded Mappls instead of Google Maps," Verma told NDTV Profit.

The move would strengthen India's digital sovereignty and data security while promoting homegrown technology innovation, according to the co-founder.

The comments come amid a major surge in downloads of Mappls over the past few days after Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's shoutout. "Traffic has gone up quite a lot, we’re seeing about 2.5 lakh downloads a day, compared to a lifetime total of around 3.5 crore," Verma said.

The app’s momentum received an additional boost after Vaishnaw gave a similar shoutout to Indian tech firm Zoho, which sparked broader interest in indigenous digital platforms. "After the minister's comments, our downloads shot up to one lakh per day," Verma said.

Verma noted that MapMyIndia's systems are equipped to handle rapid scale-up. "The platform is ready to handle any scale. A sudden surge does cause some kind of trauma, but it was taken care of," he added.

MapMyIndia, listed on the NSE, powers mapping and location-based services across industries including logistics, automotive and government infrastructure. Its Mappls app offers turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic updates and 3D visualizations, all built on indigenous mapping data.