Freedom 251 - The Cheapest Smartphone or is Something Fishy Here?

On 17th February morning, if you were reading any major newspaper in India, you must have seen a full page advertisement to this effect :

Back Page

Front Page

A new company called Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd. is launching a 3G Smartphone for Rs. 251
It comes with 1.3 GHz Quad Core Processor, 4" qHD IPS Display, 8 GB Internal Memory, 1 GB RAM, 3.2 Megapixel Back and 0.3 Megapixel Front Camera.

Find it too good to believe? Maybe it is.

Lets look at some of the facts.

1. A simple Company Search on the MCA website reveals the following information.

MCA Master Data

List of Signatories

The company Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated on 16th September 2015 i.e, the company is just 5 months old. It has an authorised capital of Rs. 1 Crore and the Paid-up capital of Rs. 60 Lac and has three signatories. There are no details about funding anywhere else.

2. A simple WHOIS lookup for ringingbells.co.in will lead you to the following information :

and when you lookup freedom251.com, you get this :

Domain registered in a hurry?

Evidently, the company's domain was purchased by Mr. Mohit Kumar Goel ( his rather funny  Facebook Profile here ) with his personal email ID - mohitgoel888@gmail.com in August 2015, and the Freedom251 domain was purchased on 10th February. The company purchased the domain just a week before launching.

3. The company's earlier product Smart 101 was launched in a similar way with big paper adverts on 8th February. It was a 4G Smartphone available for Rs. 2999 and checking reviews for the same on one of the sites gives you this :

Earlier Users Facing Issues

No information available to previous buyers

 4.  Expert opinions reveal that the handset would cost a minimum of Rs.2000 to produce. You can find the details at Economic Times, India Times, and other news sites. Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd. hasn't invented any new components for Freedom 251. They are using the standard OEM parts. So, the Bill of Materials reflects the actual costs. The company's reply doesn't explain how it will cover the costs. Also, it isn't being supported by the government. So even subsidy is out of question.

5. The handset which Ringing Bells has offered to the media is an Adcom Ikon 4 variant covered by a sticker or in some cases, whitener. It also blatantly copies the UI and Design from Apple's iPhone. Detailed reports can be found at NDTV, India.com,PhoneRadar, Hindustan Times and numerous others. 

6. Ringing Bells highlighted the list of guests prominently in all its advertisements. Yet, as highlighted by Hindustan Times here, Mr. Parrikar was not present at the inauguration.

7. Personally checking the official Freedom 251 website at 6:05 AM on 18th Feb, I confirmed that Ringing Bells doesn't offer Cash On Delivery. So you need to pay the amount right now. And the delivery is promised by 30th June.

Freedom251.com - Delivery Date

8. There are discrepancies in the photos provided on the website, in advertisements and the sample handset. Also, the company is unavailable for comments. Then there are BIS Certification Issues. Detailed report by DNA is here.

Totally unrelated, I came across an interesting Wikipedia entry on Ponzi scheme. Totally worth reading!

We just request everyone to check all the details, and go through the above news items before spending their hard-earned money. There already have been several chit-funds and schemes like Speak Asia because we don't pay attention and are blinded by the lopsided offer. This might be legit, or just another scam. We know not for sure. But we must be careful!

And thanks for the wonderful response!

credit - http://www.beinglogical.in/