Ringing Bells Freedom 251 smartphone

[ABCDEFGH]

Ringing Bells to refund Freedom 251 payments: Report


Noida-based startup Ringing Bells, the makers of the world's cheapest smartphone- Freedom 251, is reportedly refunding the payments that it had accepted on the first pre-booking date. The company stated that it had accepted payments from the first 30,000 orders, after which their website had crashed.

According to news channel ABP News, Ringing Bells MD Mohit Goel has claimed that the company has refunded the money of all 30,000 customers and said that the company will accept cash on delivery only.


Notably, after the first 30,000 bookings were made, the company did not ask for any booking amount after its website was live after a 24-hour outage. Once the second round of booking were made live on the website, the company allowed people to book one Freedom 251 unit with one email ID and mobile number.

After a particular booking was successfully accepted, Ringing Bells said that the customer would receive a payment link on the registered email ID to confirm their booking within 48 hours. However, it did not send any payments related email to its customers.

"The company has decided that we will, henceforth, offer 'cash on delivery' mode of payments for those who have placed an order for the 'Freedom 251' smartphone. This will ensure further transparency and clear any misgivings," Ringing Bells president Ashok Chadha said in an official statement.

Ringing Bells to refund Freedom 251 payments: Report - Times of India

 

[Vicky]

Noida-based startup Ringing Bells, the makers of the world's cheapest smartphone- Freedom 251, is reportedly refunding the payments that it had accepted on the first pre-booking date. The company stated that it had accepted payments from the first 30,000 orders, after which their website had crashed.

Hope me & kumarvishwas bro first 30,000 orders:shy:shy,refund for other user's,very bad decision,hope they will got the lot of bank interest for our amount:'(,it's just looting service:dodgy

 

[piinku1]

Looks like they aren't going to deliver mobile

 

[Vivek.d2h]

Looks like they aren't going to deliver mobile

same here:tup

 

[shawl_who]

Noida-based Ringing Bells, which has promised to sell smartphones for Rs 251 apiece, has started refunding money to customers due to negative speculation around its claim.

"There was a lot of negativity around us so we have decided to take money from customers only after delivering phones to them. We are refunding money to those who have paid for booking the phones and giving them an option of cash on delivery," Ringing Bells Director Mohit Goel told PTI.

About 30,000 people paid for booking the phones and over 7 crore people registered for it. The payment was facilitated by CCAvenue and PayU Biz.

"We don't want customers' money initially. We have investors to back our project. There is a business model to justify the price. We have a foolproof plan and to whomsoever we have disclosed it has agreed to it. I don't want to disclose full details as of now," Goel said.
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He said the delivery of Freedom251 smartphones is expected to start in April after which the company will start the second round of bookings.
"Our payment gateway companies CCAvenue and PayU Biz have sought time till Wednesday to credit back the amount in accounts of all those who have paid. After which we will send an email seeking confirmation for cash on delivery," Goel said.

Ringing Bells President Ashok Chaddha had explained earlier that the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.

"By going for Made in India components, we can save on the 13.8 per cent duty. Also, we will be selling online first and thus save the costs incurred on large distribution network," he said.

Chaddha also rejected speculations of the handset being subsidised by the government.

"The phone will be manufactured in Noida and Uttaranchal. Two plants will be set up for Rs 250 crore each with a capacity of 5 lakh phones. The money will come in the form of debt and equity (1.5:1)," he said.

Chaddha said the equity is being met by the promoter family of the company that is "engaged in agri-commodities business" in Uttar Pradesh but declined to give further information.

However, people in industry and some politicians expressed doubt over the claim. Telecom Minister asked the Department of Electronics and IT to look in to matter. Ringing Bells has also come under the scanner of Excise and Income Tax Departments as debates around the feasibility of offering a handset for Rs 251 rages on.

According to the sources, the I-T Department is looking into the financial structure of the company and has obtained documents, including those from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), in this regard



Ringing Bells starts refunding money to customers for Freedom 251 mobile

 

[Abhi]

Awesome update Shawl_who bro:clap

 

[piinku1]

I feel they aren't going to provide phone

 

[kumarvishwas]

Received my Refund of Rs.582 [emoji4] [emoji4] [emoji1]

 

[Vicky]

Received my Refund of Rs.582 [emoji4] [emoji4] [emoji1]

Yep bro,i also recevied the refund amount:shy:shy

 

[DTH Fan]

It means it was 100% fraud. Due to so much discussion on social networks, news channels and investigations, they decided to refund money to save themselves. I'm sure they'll never deliver the phone. Its dead now.