Krutrim, the AI startup founded by Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal, revealed a revised pricing model for Ola Maps on July 18, aiming to enhance the adoption of its mapping and location-based services among developers.

The startup also announced plans to introduce new application programming interfaces (APIs), software development kits (SDKs), and features in the coming months to enhance its developer offerings.

This announcement follows Google's decision to reduce prices on the Google Maps platform for developers in India by up to 70% starting August 1, 2024. Additionally, Google will begin accepting payments in Indian Rupees (INR), shifting from the previous practice of charging India-based customers in US dollars.

Ola Maps' new pricing includes a free tier for all its mapping and location-based APIs, allowing up to 5 million API calls per month at no cost. This tier covers APIs such as autocomplete, reverse geocoding, vector tiles, and directions.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Aggarwal stated that this free tier will support nearly all startups in India. For higher usage volumes, Ola Maps claims its rates are 50% of Google's new reduced prices. Aggarwal also announced that developers committing to Ola Maps for over three years will have charges waived for the first two years.

"It’s time we build world-class alternatives to big tech giants and empower Indian innovation," Aggarwal said in a statement.

Ola is partnering with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to offer three years of free access to Ola Maps APIs for all startups and small businesses building on ONDC. T Koshy, MD & CEO of ONDC, stated, "This move will significantly boost innovation among our network participants. It's inspiring to see homegrown tech leaders supporting India's digital transformation."

This partnership follows Google's announcement of a similar collaboration with ONDC, offering developers additional discounts on select Google Maps Platform APIs starting August 1, 2024, valid for three years.

Krutrim, touted as India's first AI unicorn, launched mapping and location-based services for developers via the Ola Maps API in May, as first reported by Moneycontrol. Aggarwal previously highlighted Krutrim's "India-first" cost structure as a key differentiator.

Earlier this month, Aggarwal announced that Ola Cabs had fully transitioned from Google Maps to its in-house Ola Maps, a move expected to save the company Rs 100 crore annually.

Recently, Aggarwal has been actively promoting Ola Maps to developers, offering free one-year access. In a blog post on July 18, he mentioned that over 10,000 developers have signed up on the platform, with growing adoption of its services.

"While all main APIs are supported by Ola Maps today, we will be feature-complete for all kinds of APIs, SDKs, and niche use cases by December," Aggarwal said. This includes new APIs across various categories, such as routes API, map tiles API, places API, and maps API, along with SDKs for web, Android, and iOS platforms.

Ola Maps also plans to introduce a Map Style Editor, allowing users to create, edit, and publish custom map styles, and a dedicated test environment.