Freedom 251 mobile controversy: Hit by accusation of fraud after pricing its Freedom 251 mobile phone at Rs 251, Ringing Bells suffered yet another setback on Thursday, this time in the corridors of government and it has nothing to do with the fact that it comes at a dirt cheap rate. However, the officials of the company, Mohit Goel and Ashok Chadha have repeatedly said that they will deliver Freedom 251 mobile as promised with all the relevant features mentioned in the advertisement and that no aspersions should be cast on their intent. They added that they will even make an over Rs 30 profit on each handset.
Freedom 251 mobile: In the latest revelation about Ringing Bells company, reports say that DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant has washed his hands of the Freedom 251 phone. "This is not a Govt project. Make in India team has nothing 2 (to) do with this," tweeted Kant, the outgoing secretary of DIPP which is the nodal agency for the 'Make in India' campaign.
Freedom 251 mobile: In an earlier tweet on February 19, Kant had said: "It's not d (the) price of handset; its broadband connectivity & operational cost: Freedom 251: priced at Rs 251". On reading this tweet, some Twitter users raised objections as to why a government representative of 'Make In India' was clarifying on behalf of Ringing Bells which is selling the Freedom 251 mobile, and which has been embroiled in a controversy since the launch of the smartphone.
Freedom 251 mobile: In another controversial turn of events in the Freedom 251 saga, Ringing Bells has been accused of "fraud" and non-payment of dues by its customer service provider – a charge refuted by the smartphone company. Ringing Bell has on the other hand accused the BPO company, Cyfuture, of having failed in handling the huge traffic generated in the wake of the Freedom 251 mobile booking being opened online.
Freedom 251 mobile: Noida-based Ringing Bells had unveiled a 3G smartphone, the Freedom 251 mobile priced at Rs 251, taking by surprise the entire industry which raised questions over the possibility of such a handset being sold at the promised price. An equivalent model of the phone is available in market for about Rs 3000-4,000.
Freedom 251 mobile: However, Ringing Bells received a huge response from customers on the first day of opening of registration for the promised smartphone leading to its website crashing. Freedom 251 mobile booking online was suspended after the second day. Still, the company claims to have received bookings from about 30,000 people and registrations by some 7 crore people.
Freedom 251 mobile: Telecom Ministry is also keeping a close watch over the development with Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that Ringing Bells would face action if it fails to deliver the promised smartphone. The online payment service provider of the Ringing Bells, PayU Biz, has kept money in an escrow account and will release it to the company after it ships the Rs 251 mobile phone.
