Why is Google Maps misdirecting users in India?

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

Earlier in February, an Indian politician urged the country’s Parliament to support homegrown alternatives to Google Maps – blaming the popular navigation app for fatal accidents.

“Incidents due to Google Maps errors in India are becoming a more and more serious issue,” Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade said. “These incidents highlight that directions on Google Maps are not always correct.”

Gopchade mentioned two accidents: one from November 2024, in which three men died in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after their car veered off an under-construction bridge, and another from October 2023, when two doctors from Kerala lost their lives by following the navigation app to a river they mistook for a waterlogged street.

These are among a series of reported misdirections involving Google Maps in India. In 2024, three people had to be rescued from a canal in Uttar Pradesh after they followed driving directions on the app. A car in Tamil Nadu landed at a flight of stairs when its driver opted for the “fastest route” on Google Maps, and a family traveling from Bihar to Goa wound up stranded in a forest in Karnataka.

Google Maps is the most-used navigation app by consumers in India, with millions of daily users and an…

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