Freedom 251 bookings closed, 7.35 cr phones to be delivered in 2016

by shelly singh
Noida: The makers of Freedom 251 smartphone, touted to be the cheapest of its kind, closed both online and offline bookings for it on Saturday, a day before originally scheduled.

According to Ringing Bells, Freedom 251 received 3.7 crore bookings on February 18 and 2.8 crore on the second day. On Saturday, the company received 85 lakh bookings after which it was suspended (Sanchit Khanna/ HT Photos

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“Till 11 am on Saturday, a total of 7.35 crore people have booked the `251 smartphone. We had to shut down online bookings because we are prepared to deliver only these many handsets,” said Mohit Kumar Goel, founder of Ringing Bells.

The Noida-based company said they appointed 100 distributors in north Indian cities to each take 5,000 offline bookings.

“We are yet to figure out how many they booked… We will soon resume our offline bookings…A person could only book one smartphone offline or online,” said Ashok Chadha, president of the company.

Some buyers alleged the distributors issued vouchers in Noida and even accepted cash for vouchers in bulk.

“We will look into why distributors accepted money,” said Chadha.

The company said it will begin delivering the handsets from April and expected to finish the process by 2016 end.

Goel said 30,000 people paid the amount, including shipping charges. The rest of them will pay once the phone is delivered, he said.

The company said it received 3.7 crore bookings on Thursday when the phone was launched, and 2.8 crore on the second day. On Saturday, it got another 85 lakh bookings, after which orders were suspended.

Many smartphone buyers gathered outside the company’s office on Saturday after they could not place an order online. “Why did the website not run smoothly since the bookings opened? I have not been able to book a phone so far,” said prospective buyer Vipin Chauhan.

The company’s website was plagued with problems since the bookings opened. It also came under criticism from various quarters for the low pricing, with the Indian Cellular Association urging the telecom ministry to look into it.

But Goel maintained that he will not import China-made phones to deliver on his promises. He claimed to set up 20 manufacturing units across the country and create 4.5 lakh jobs. In a month and a half, Goel said, he will set up the first plant.

“For the first time we will manufacture phone memory in India, which is presently imported from Taiwan.”

He said the phone’s cost was `1,719. “But I am not working for profit. I want to contribute to ‘Digital India’ by giving a smartphone to everyone who has `251 in his pocket, be it a labourer or a farmer.”

He said a team of 50 people worked on the project for eight months before the launch

Bookings closed for ‘Freedom 251’

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• by shelly singh

Touted as the world’s cheapest smartphone, it was launched on Wednesday

Bookings for “Freedom 251”, touted as the world’s cheapest smartphone, closed on Saturday after the Noida-based company selling the phone said it could not deal with the “overwhelming response”.

Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd., set up by Amity graduate Mohit Goel in 2015, said in a statement on the Freedom 251 website that the response from the public “far exceeded the number we had expected” and that bookings in the first phase of the launch will be closed.

“We appreciate and acknowledge that we may not have been able to meet the needs of all, but will definitely look forward to serving you again in the next phase,” the statement added.

The phone, which has a four-inch display, was launched on Wednesday at an event in New Delhi. The website to pre-order the phone got so many hits that it crashed on Thursday. Services were restored on Friday, but the company closed bookings on Saturday morning as the number of orders had exceeded what it had anticipated.

Mr. Goel could not be reached for comment, but reports suggest the number of orders had crossed seven crore.

Potential customers visited the company’s office after being unable to book the smartphone online.

They were greeted by a sign telling them not to collect outside the office and refer to the website.

Meanwhile, there were questions over how the company will be able to manufacture and deliver a smartphone at such a low cost. The Income Tax Department had raided the office at B-44 in Sector 63 on Friday to find out how the phone was priced so low. The Gautam Budh Nagar Police also visited the office and met Mr. Goel in order to prepare his profile.