Freedom 251 controversy: Adcom says sold phone for Rs 3600 to Ringing Bells

New Delhi: The controversy over 'Rs 251 smartphone' took another turn Friday when a Delhi-based firm Adcom said it sold about 1,000 handsets to Ringing Bells for Rs 3,600 a unit and was unaware of its reselling plans.

Ringing Bells, which announced launch of the Freedom 251 smartphone, however said that Adcom provided some prototypes that it handed to some special guests, including media, for initial impression.

"We have other partners for assembly of our phones," Ringing Bells said in a statement.

When asked about the partner, a company spokesperson named one Noida-based Eminence Technologies.

Adcom also warned of legal action against Noida-based Ringing Bells in case the latter's activities adversely impact its brand name or cause any other kind of losses.

Ringing Bells last month unveiled the Freedom 251 phone which is being touted as the world's cheapest smartphone.

The company showcased some sample devices, which resembled Adcom's smartphone Ikon 4, which is already available in the market at Rs 3,999.

"Yes, it is true that although we sold the handsets to Ringing Bells earlier, like we sell Adcom mobiles to lakhs of users, we were absolutely unaware of the reselling plans of the company in question. Furthermore, we still haven't been able to evaluate their pricing policy, as we sold the handsets at Rs 3,600 per unit," Advantage Computers (Adcom) Founder and Chairman Sanjeev Bhatia said in a statement.

Bhatia also told PTI that Ringing Bells bought 1,000 devices from them and has made the payment also. Bhatia also said Ringing Bells was talking about an order of lakhs of devices but haven't placed the order yet.

Ringing Bells said its sudden rise should not be misconstrued as a fly-by-night operation. The company has already instructed the payment gateway to refund the few online payments that came in on the first pre-booking 18/2 date.

"The mode of payment now will be only cash on delivery. The orders placed by the customers are not cancelled but the payment will be taken only on delivery. Ringing Bells hopes to begin deliveries of Freedom 251 by around end of April," it added.

However, Adcom said the company is deeply grieved by this incident where its mobile phone has been presented to masses for Rs 251, and therefore, it would not hesitate from taking any legal actions against Ringing Bells, in case the entire fiasco impacts Adcom's brand name or subsequently it face any other kind of losses.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had already said the government was monitoring Ringing Bells and would take action if it fails to deliver the Rs 251 handset.