A new Indian company named Ringing Bells has introduced a smartphone for 251 rupees, about NZ$5.50, and has been met with a mix of scepticism and excitement.
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However, official statement from Ringing Bells says, “We completely disagree with the facts shared by Cyfuture BPO”. “Just a week before “Freedom 251” mobile launch this month, we were told that the company is going to do a “dhamaka” and need 100 people to handle customer calls”. Though the company has announced that it will accept cash on delivery payments, it is still unclear how it is going to deal with the customers who have already registered for the phone, as the payment has already been made through the online gateway. “As per the contract, Ringing Bells had specifically assured us of a minimum lock-in period of one year and no termination before a year”.
Ringing Bell has on the other hand accused the BPO company, Cyfuture, of having failed in handling the huge traffic of customer calls. “There will be ruckus at our company if we lay off 100 employees hired for Ringing Bells project”, Bairathi said. “We are looking into the situation to serve our customers better”.
The first few days after the phone was unveiled, the call-centre number received lakhs of calls which were attended and promptly responded to and even Ringing Bells was happy with our services, he said.
As per their agreement, Bairathi said, in the event of termination due to unsatisfactory services, Ringing Bells was to provide a 30 day notice-period and make all pending payments.
Since Ringing Bells launched Freedom 251, dubbed as the cheapest smartphone in the world for less than $4, the company has been in news for all the wrong reasons.
To all those who overlooked our initiative to align with the Make In India or the Digital India plans, the company has clearly developed its Business Plan in sync with government initiatives to promote Make in India, Digital India, Skill India and all anchored now on Start up India. With the federal government already denying any involvement with the project, the senior management of the company was left to defend itself in the media against various accusations. “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.
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The tweet comes at a time when the government is keeping a close tab on Noida-based smartphone-maker Ringing Bells owned by Mohit Goel.
