by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Corporate Governance, Large Enterprise, Markets, News, Technology
Mohit Goel
Noida : Mohit Goel, the maker of the controversial “Freedom 251” smartphone which became the talk of the town last year, resurfaced on Sunday, saying that if he gets support from the government, he can still deliver the handsets by March-April next year.
Police on Sunday arrested two persons after Goel, Managing Director of Noida-based Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd which launched the world’s cheapest smartphone last year, filed an FIR against them for not delivering “Freedom 251” units even after the company paid them in advance.
The accused Vikas Sharma, 35, and Jeetu, 40, both residents of Delhi, who allegedly took nearly Rs 3.5 crore from Ringing Bells for delivering handsets, were sent to Dasna jail, Noida’s Superintendent of Police, City, Arun Kumar Singh told IANS.
Speaking to IANS over phone, Goel said: “I paid the duo nearly Rs 3.5 crore and, in return, they cheated me. They siphoned off the money and did not deliver any phone. In February this year, some distributors filed a case against me and I was jailed for six months. Now with the fresh arrests, people will come to know why I failed to deliver on my promise.”
Goel lamented that the government did not come to his support despite his commitment to ‘Make in India’ and ‘Start-up India’ initiative by providing every single Indian citizen with a smartphone.
“The big players today have adopted my model and are now giving smartphones in as low as Rs 1,300, like Karbonn. The Jio model for paying Rs 1,500 in advance for a smartphone is similar. They have deep pockets so they can afford but why don’t people ask them how they are making smartphones so cheap?” he said.
“My vendors didn’t deliver on time and I failed. Our company’s President Ashok Chadda is still languishing in jail. I need one opportunity to come back clean and provide people handsets by March-April next year,” Goel told IANS, adding that he is not planning anything else at the moment but to focus on his “Freedom 251” dream.
The company in mid-February 2016, had planned to deliver 2.5 million handsets before June 30, the same year. Ringing Bells received mammoth — over 70 million — registrations before its payment gateway crashed.
The world’s cheapest phone made a splash across the globe, with almost every big media house writing about the “miracle device”.
After announcing that it had delivered 5,000 ‘Freedom 251’ smartphones to customers in July last year, Ringing Bells said it would deliver 65,000 more to those who had booked the device in cash on delivery (COD) mode.
But no new numbers were shared afterwards.
Goel was arrested in February this year after an FIR was filed by Ghaziabad-based distributor Ayam Enterprises, alleging that Ringing Bells defrauded it of Rs 16 lakh.
The Allahabad High Court later granted bail to Goel. The court had observed that a compromise was agreed upon between the parties involved in the case.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News
New Delhi : (IANS) In some respite to India’s cheapest smartphone makers, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd — the Noida-based firm that created a global buzz after announcing the launch of the controversial Rs.251 “Freedom 251” smartphone last month.
While hearing the plea, the division bench of Justice B.K. Narayan and justice Shashi Kant ordered the UP state government to furnish a status report on an urgent basis by April 5, further directing that no coercive steps be taken till then against the three top accused – directors Mohit Goel and Dharna Garg and president Ashok Chadha.
A first information report (FIR) was registered last week against Goel and company president Ashok Chaddha under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the Information Technology (IT) Act on a complaint filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
The court also directed the petitioners to submit their passports to SSP Noida within 24 hours.
According to lawyer Abhishek Vikram representing Ringing Bells, the three petitioners will “fully comply with the orders of the court by submitting their passport and will provide full cooperation to the investigation agency”.
“We have nothing to hide. We are committed to affordable smartphones to people of this country and we shall achieve that. We will stick to fair practices and comply with regulations of our great country,” Mohit Goel, director, Ringing Bells, told IANS.
“We remain committed to cooperate with any government agency that may need to inquire our organisation for any reason or suspicion. We have already done so with authorities/agencies that have so required,” Goel added.
“I do maintain that we will deliver the most affordable quality products to our customers through our range of smartphones including ‘Freedom 251’,” Goel added.
Ringing Bells launched the product last month in the presence of veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
It distributed some “prototypes” of the product to the media which turned out to be Adcom handsets. However, the company maintained that the device has been developed “with immense support” from the government.
According to the company, ‘Freedom 251’ will run on Android 5.1 operating system and will sport a 4-inch qHD IPS display, a 3.2-megapixel primary and a 0.3-megapixel front camera.
However, doubts were raised after assessments of the viability of the handset found that such a device cannot be offered for less than Rs.2,300-2,400.
Ringing Bells had received 30,000 orders on the first day.
The rest of the customers for the first 25 lakh handsets were to be selected on first-come-first-served basis as the company received about seven crore registrations before the payment gateway crashed.
Later, the company decided to return the money to the customers who pre-booked the Rs.251 device on the first day of the sale.
The company said it planned to give 25 lakh handsets in the first phase before June 30.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz
New Delhi : (IANS) Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd., which promised to make available the world’s cheapest smartphone, on Friday said it will cooperate with any investigation into its affairs.
“We remain committed to cooperate with any government agency that may need to inquire our organisation for any reason or suspicion. We have already done so with authorities/agencies that have so required,” the company based in Noida in Uttar Pradesh said in a statement, citing Managing Director Mohit Goel.
A first information report (FIR) was registered on Tuesday against Goel and company president Ashok Chaddha under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the Information Technology (IT) Act on a complaint filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
“I do maintain that we will deliver the most affordable quality products to our customers through our range of smartphones including ‘Freedom 251’,” Goel added.
‘Freedom 251’ is the company’s flagship product, promised to be made available at a retail price of only Rs.251.
Ringing Bells “launched” the product last month in the presence of veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
It distributed some “prototypes” of the product to the media which turned out to be Adcom handsets. However, the company maintained that the device has been developed “with immense support” from the government.
According to the company, ‘Freedom 251’ will run on Android 5.1 operating system and will sport a 4-inch qHD IPS display, a 3.2-megapixel primary and a 0.3-megapixel front camera.
However, doubts were raised after assessments of the viability of the handset found that such a device cannot be offered for less than Rs.2,300-2,400.
“In Freedom 251, as presented to several authorities and agencies, and explained at our various forums, we are able to price our product at lower than production cost due to innovative e-commerce cross promotions and we will complete delivery of the quantities as committed by June 30, 2016,” Goel said.
Ringing Bells had received 30,000 orders on the first day.
The rest of the customers for the first 25 lakh handsets were to be selected on first-come-first-served basis as the company received about seven crore registrations before the payment gateway crashed.
Later, the company decided to return the money to the customers who pre-booked the Rs.251 device on the first day of the sale.
The company said it planned to give 25 lakh handsets in the first phase before June 30.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Emerging Businesses
New Delhi : (IANS) As the makers of world’s cheapest Rs.251 (less than $4) smartphone went gaga over being part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” and “Digital India” initiatives in last few days, a top government official clarified on Thursday that the government has nothing to do with “Freedom 251” smartphone.
“This is not a government project. ‘Make in India’ team has nothing to do with this,” wrote Amitabh Kant, secretary of department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), in a Twitter post.
The tweet comes on the heel of the fact that the government is already keeping a close watch on “Freedom 251” and its Noida-based maker Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd.
On February 23, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said his department is keeping a close watch on Ringing Bells. The minister said the Department of Telecommunications has inquired whether the company can provide phones at such a low price, which works out to less than $4.
“This was done to ensure that there are no discrepancies later. If there are any, we will take action as per the law. Our department is keeping a watch,” Prasad said in New Delhi.
Earlier, informed sources told IANS that the telecom ministry has done an internal assessment on viability of the handset ‘Freedom 251’ and found such a device cannot be offered for not less than Rs.2,300-2,400.
Ringing Bells has promised to deliver 25 lakh handsets by June 30.
In an earlier chat with IANS over phone, Ringing Bells president Ashok Chadha said the company will hand over 25 lakh “Freedom 251″ phones to the people who have registered for it online.
“I am hopeful that we will be able to start delivery latest by April 10 and finish well before the June 30 deadline,” Chadha told IANS.
According to Chadha, the company is looking to set up two more units – one each in Noida and Uttarakhand. But how fast the company is going to start the manufacturing and churn out devices is a big question.
Chadha said that while the manufacturing cost of the phone is high, it will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.
However, how well is the little-known firm placed to achieve this task is not yet clear.
Taking the world by surprise, the company launched “Freedom 251” smartphone last week that, it said, has been developed “with immense support” from the government.
There are, however, some apprehensions about its final appearance and performance.
The Indian Cellular Association has also written to the telecom ministry, urging the government to get to the bottom of the issue as selling a smartphone this cheap is not possible.
