Rs 251 smartphone maker refunds money, to offer cash on delivery
New Delhi, February 28
"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," Ringing Bells Director Mohit Goel said.
Nearly 30,000 people paid for booking the phones and more than 7 crore people registered for it. The payment was facilitated by CCAvenue and PayU Biz.
"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," Goel said.
He said the delivery of Freedom251 smartphones is expected to start in April after which the company will start the second round of bookings.
"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.
Ringing Bells president Ashok Chaddha had explained earlier that the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale and innovative marketing. — PTI
