City-based startups are at the forefront of the opposition to the Union government’s controversial Geospatial Information Regulation Bill.
They fear it could create “a licence raj for digital India” and hamper several enterprises building and using geospatial data for innovative products. Open source data activists and professionals in this space have now come together and started a movement called ‘Save the Map’ to oppose the Bill.
Ventures like Latlong and MapUnity, which create maps for apps, fear they could be the worst-hit as the Bill seeks to criminalise all collectors and disseminators of geospatial data without prior vetting by the government.
There are nearly 50 startups working on maps and GIS (geographic information system) in the city. But the Bill, in its present form, will also adversely affect other new-age companies like food delivery, e-commerce and cab aggregators that extensively use improvised geospatial data customised to their requirements.
