Following allegations of fraud by Ayam Enterprises; Mohit Goel, the Director of Ringing Bells has been detained by the Ghaziabad police. As per the Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises, Goel ‘duped the company of Rs 16 lakh.
As per the FIR filed by Ayam Enterprises, Ringing bells approached the company to take up the distributorship of the Freedom 251 (the Rs. 251 smartphone) in November 251. As per the PTI report the FIR said that the company paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. However, Ringing Bells delivered the product worth Rs 13 lakh only. After follow-up, Ayam Enterprises got products plus money totaling Rs 14 lakh.
Ringing Bells is not new to controversies. The world’s cheapest Smartphone providers promised of delivering two lakh units in November. But it has fallen flat with some finding it hard to believe if the smartphone even exists. Ringing Bells claims to have received close to seven crore registrations for Freedom 251. But only 70,000 units have been delivered so far.
The Ringing Bells List of Troubles
Ringing Bells Shut Down?
Rumors started to surface online that Ringing Bells is shutting down. However a spokesperson from the company denied this in his statement and said that some false reports were out in the media claiming that Ringing Bells has shut down. He further added that the company is performing well in the market since their day of commencement.
Freedom 251 Deliveries Delayed
Freedom 251’s delivery was delayed a couple of times. The company finally decided to ship two lakh units in July. But only 70,000 units of the smartphone have been delivered until now. States such as West Bengal, Haryana, Himachal, Bihar, Uttarakhand, New Delhi, Punjab, J&K, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were said to get the Freedom 251 phone.
Ringing Bells Website Isn’t Working
The Ringing Bells website is out of operation since long. Last time back in November when the authorities were questioned, the spokesperson said the site was being upgraded. Similar reply was given back in September. There is no clue about how long the website updation process will require.
The news was also flooded saying that Ringing Bells CEO Seeking PM Narendra Modi’s Help under the Digital India initiative in a letter to Modi. The letter read that Ringing Bells have brought ‘Freedom 251’ on ‘Cash on Delivery’ terms but they had a gap between the BOM (Bill of Materials) and the Selling Price and further requested the government to support them so as to actualize the objective to cascade the availability and usage of smartphones.
The smartphone controversy wasn’t over yet Ringing Bells was in the news again for launching a cheap LED TV and had said it will start deliveries of the Freedom TV from August 15, which of course didn’t happen. Ringing Bells other smartphones are called Elegant and Elegance. It unveiled four feature phones called King, Boss, Hit and Raja. It also launched three power banks starting at Rs 399.
The initial hype around Freedom 251 has fizzled out. We will have to wait and watch how things play out for the Noida-based Ringing Bells with this new development.
Via: Indian Express