TPL launches Pakistan's first Urdu maps

Company plans to introduce many more local language features

TPL Maps can arguably be considered the closest competitor there is to the well-established brand of Google Maps in Pakistan.

Earlier this year, TPL launched digital maps that focused on covering the sheer details of Pakistan's landscape.

But Google's ever reliable maps didn't seem to be affected by the local competition and forced TPL to adopt a different strategy.

As of today, TPL has launched Pakistan's first “Urdu Maps” that covers detailed mapping service in the national language.



"Considering the literacy level in the country and the increasing usage of smartphone, we have been working on Urdu maps for consumers over the past few months," said Adeel Hashmi, the head of TPL Maps.

User will see the names of locations like cities, roads and public places in the national language.

These new Urdu Maps can be customized and integrated into Banks, FMCGs, cab-hailing services, handset manufacturers and other service-oriented sectors.



With Apple's Maps not supporting Pakistan's entire landscape and having many incomplete locations, it surely is a vacuum that could be filled with the right strategy.

TPL plans to introduce many more local language features in the future, according to a statement.



“Urdu Maps is a gift for our consumers on the occasion of Pakistan’s 70th anniversary, while maps localisation remains the core of our strategy,” Hashmi further stated.

It remains to be seen whether localizing Maps in terms of local languages can help shift consumer focus from Google especially given the recent surge of ride-hailing services in the country.