Ringing Bells bought Rs 251 smartphones for Rs 3,600 each from Delhi firm!

NEW DELHI: A New Delhi-based company said the devices shown by Ringing Bells at the launch of the Rs 251 smartphone were sold by it for Rs 3,600 each. Advantage Computers (Adcom) has threatened to take action against Ringing Bells if the fiasco over what was touted as the world's cheapest smartphone hurts its brand name or leads to any other kind of losses for the company.

Adcom on Friday said it sold around 1,000 mobile handsets to Ringing Bells, unaware of the Noidabased company's plans to resell the device at Rs 251.

"We still haven't been able to evaluate their pricing policy, as we sold the handsets at Rs 3,600 per unit. We are deeply grieved by this incident where our mobile phone has been presented to masses forRs 251, and therefore, would not hesitate from taking any legal actions against the company," chairman Sanjeev Bhatia said in a news release.

"This scam exhibits the potential of maligning our brand name Adcom, which is our trademark since 2001," he said.< /p>

Adcom sold handsets to Ringing Bells just like it sells to any consumer in the country, Bhatia said.

"We would also like to assert that Adcom is in no way connected or linked with Ringing Bells or Freedom251 and bears no responsibility" over the issue, he added.

Mohit Goel, managing director of Ringing Bells, countered the charge, saying that the devices sourced from Adcom were not sold in the market and were just to show to the media at the launch.

This is the latest of the problems piling up for Ringing Bells.

Noida-based BPO Cyfuture had last week filed a police complaint against the company alleging fraud and non-payment of arrears, and seeking Rs 80 lakh in compensation.

Cyfuture was planning also to file a separate defamation case "worth crores" against Ringing Bells, alleging an attempt to tarnish the company's image in the market.

Ringing Bells has faced queries from the Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate and the Department of Electronics and IT.

Congress lawmaker Pramod Tiwari alleged in Parliament that the offer by Ringing Bells was a scam in the making, while similar charges have been made by the BJP's Kirit Somaiya.

Amid intense scrutiny of its business model and allegations of fraud, Ringing Bells recently started refunding customers who paid upfront for the device called Freedom251.

Payment for the smartphone will now be accepted only on delivery for all the 25 lakh bookings the company received.

CCAvenue, the payment gateway used by Ringing Bells on its website, started refunds worth Rs 84 lakh for over 30,000 transactions made by about 14,800 customers.

Source: Ringing Bells bought Rs 251 smartphones for Rs 3,600 each from Delhi firm!