Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd. continues to be indignant about its flagship Freedom 251 device despite various accusations from different parties.
Earlier controversies that surrounded the release of the $4 Freedom 251 smartphone include rebranded Adcom smartphones distributed to media personnel during the phone's debut and the company's rather ambiguous and vague way of explaining how their phones can be priced so cheaply, not to menion their company is in the government's Make in India initiative.
Now, a first information report (FIR) has been filed against Ringing Bells by Kirit Somaiya, leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India. The complaint accuses Ringing Bells of "cheating" as the company is allegedly violating Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Acts. Somaiya believes the pricing of the phone is just not realistic and is accusing the company of committing fraud. The given specifications and features of the phone greatly exceed the selling price of the Freedom 251.
Officials are assembling a team to investigate the matter after an initial report found the FIR had enough grounds to proceed. Ringing Bells has been required to submit documents for the inquiries pointed out in the FIR. The company states it is willing to oblige and it is in full cooperation with any government officials who need clarification from their side. Ringing Bells is seemingly ready to face and disprove any accusation.
The company has also previously changed the mode of payments for preorders to a cash-on-delivery basis to further legitimize their business. Payments that had already been made were refunded. Such payments had been made through 3rd party banks and were held in escrow.
In spite of these allegations directed at the company, not including all the assumptions and negative publicity, Ringing Bells seems unfazed. It promises to release the first batch of phones that will be delivered to users by the end of June 2016. Candidates were picked on a first come, first served basis and a status update on their company's Facebook page announced that they had sent out texts and e-mails to the users who had been picked. An estimated 50 lakh or 5 million units of the smartphone are expected to be sold both online and offline.
