Noida-based Ringing Bells, which created a sensation in the country by promising to sell ‘Freedom 251’ Smartphone for just Rs 251, has started refunding money to the customers owing to heavy negative criticism.
“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,” said Ringing Bells Director Mohit Goel.
“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. 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.
About 30,000 people have paid for booking the cheapest smartphone and over 7 crore registrations were received. He said the delivery of Freedom 251 is expected to start in April.
As per sources, the IT Department is probing into the financial structure of the firm owing to complaints.