Ringing Bells 'Freedom 251': Datawind, the maker of world's cheapest tablet PC, questioned Ringing Bells mobile phone Freedom 251 cost of Rs 251 and said that the scheme will neither impact the company nor market players. "Every month about 2 crore mobile phones are sold in India. The company (Ringing Bells) claims to have 25 lakh bookings and some crore registrations. If the product is actually shipped, the 25 lakh unit will neither affect market nor prospect of our company," Datawind President and CEO Suneet Singh Tuli told reporters. (Source: IE)
Ringing Bells 'Freedom 251': Suneet Singh Tuli also alleged that the offer to sell mobile phone is just a promotion. Datawind made the world's cheapest tablet Aakash for the Indian government. It had won the contract to supply 1 lakh units of Aakash tablets priced at USD 49.98 apiece in 2011, translated into a price of Rs 2,276 at that time. The project was then handled by IIT Jodhpur which provided the specifications for the product. (Source: IE)
Ringing Bells 'Freedom 251': After running into controversies on the quality of product, the project was shifted under IIT Bombay and Datawind was asked to supply better version of the product, Aakash 2, at a price of Rs 2,263 apiece, which is around USD 42 at exchange rate at that time. (Source: IE)
Freedom 251 mobile: Chaddha rushed to reassure those who have already booked the mobile phone (according to Ringing Bells it has received over 5 crore registrations) and said, “In view of the shortage of time and given that these were to serve only as prototypes given FOC to a limited list of persons, we went ahead. We would clearly mention that the final Freedom 251 manufactured/assembled in India would be to identical specs – i.e. no change.” (Express photo)
After Ringing Bells set Freedom 251 mobile price at just Rs 251 and took the entire country by storm, the Mohit Kumar Goel-led company has come under the scanner of excise and Income Tax Departments over how it has managed to offer a smartphone as cheap as this and also the actual feasibility of the entire deal. Since the government itself says the smartphone should have cost, at its cheapest, at Rs 2,300 and the company has said the mobile phone's cost is around Rs 2,500, the debate rages as to what is going to happen next and some are already referring to it as the Freedom 251 mobile scam. Perhaps, the Income Tax Department will manage to clear the air. (Express photo)
