The Noida-based company Ringing Bells has been in and out of the news since early 2016 for Freedom 251 that costs Rs. 250, and now it is time for them to deliver the devices.
The company recently confirmed that it would start delivering the handsets from June 30. The delivery of the devices has been delayed apparently because of some issue with their batteries. The biggest question was how the company plans to hand over only 2 lakh units to the consumers when it received a total of 7 crore registrations from across the country.
According to a report by Firstpost, the Founder and CEO of the company Mohit Goel has revealed that Ringing Bells would conduct state-wise lucky draws from June 30 to July 5 where it will decide who among the 70 million registrations will get the smartphone. Goel also said that the company received the highest number of registrations from the Uttar Pradesh, a total of 2.5 crores. Ringing Bells will offer 10,000 units in the state via lucky draw. The other states will have a similar lucky draw.
Ringing Bells President Ashok Chaddha had explained earlier this year that the manufacturing cost of the Freedom 251 was close to Rs. 2,500 and the company plans to recover it through a series of measures that include economies of scale, innovative marketing and creating an e-commerce marketplace.
The specs of Freedom 251 include a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, expandable storage support, 8MP rear camera, 3.2MP front camera, 1800mAh battery, and the device is said to run on Android 5.1 Lollipop.
To a certain extent, the deal with the company seems a bit dubious but, the fact that the company has not just disappeared after taking booking money has shone some optimistic lights.
