Ringing Bells started delivering Freedom 251, the controversial ultracheap smartphones in Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. The device is priced and INR 251 or US$ 4 and sports a 4inch display screen. The device features a 1.3GHz quad-core processor and is supported by 1GB of RAM.
Launched in February 2016 by BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi the cheap price raised many eyebrows. Ringing Bells claimed that it has received more than 7 crore registrations of which nearly 30,000 people deposited money in advance. The company promised delivery of smartphones in June this year. However, the shipment of orders was delayed for various reasons. Ringing Bells further brought down the total deliveries to 5,000 orders.
Government agencies Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department raided the office of Ringing Bells on 22nd February on allegations of fraud. The company had to refund the money collected to customers thereafter.
Ringing Bells launches a LED TV
The Noida-based company in an event on July 7th also unveiled three feature phones Raja, Boss, and King priced at Rs 1,099, Rs 999, and Rs 899, respectively. Ringing Bells also launched Elegance a 3G-enabled dual-SIM smartphone priced at INR 3,999. The smartphone runs on runs Android Marshmallow and features a 5-inch HD IPS display. The smartphone is powered by 1.3Ghz quad-core processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage (expandable up to 32GB on a micro SD card). The company also launched a series of power banks of 8,000mAh, 5,500mAh and 4,000mAh capacities at INR 699, Rs 499 and Rs 399, respectively.
In the same event, a 32-inch high-definition LED TV under the brand name Freedom HD LED TV was launched. The device is priced at INR 9,900.
Sources: IANS, ET