Freedom 251 announces Cash on Delivery option for first 25 lakh consumers

Ringing Bells, maker of the now-famous Freedom 251 for its price of mere Rs 251, has a new announcement related to the payment of the device. On its Facebook page, the company has announced the Cash on Delivery (CoD) option. Now, this doesn’t mean it has started taking bookings. The CoD option is for the first 25 lakh users who have registered for the device.  Ringing Bells writes that it is compiling the emails and will issue the option to the first 25 lakh registrations. Meanwhile, there have been reports about PayUBiz, the company handling the payments, refusing to let go of the Rs 1.75 crore amassed from the lacs of buyers who have placed their orders for the Freedom 251 smartphone. (Also read:  Freedom 251 first impressions ) PayUBiz released a statement saying, “As a leading payment solution company, we are cognizant of both our merchants and buyers. With a surge in no. of queries received for Freedom 251 during last few days, we are cautious towards the payments being made by buyers to buy Freedom 251. As a responsible payment solution company, we have ensured that the buyer’s money remains safe with us and gets released to the merchant once the product is dispatched. In case the merchant is not able to fulfil the huge demand they have received, we will work with merchant to return the money to buyers.” In the past one week, Ringing Bells has been under scrutiny over delivering Rs 251 phone.  Many have voiced their opinion saying how Freedom 251 is nothing but a scam including Kirit Somaiya. The BJP MP had approached telecom ministry, telecom regulator Trai, Consumer Ministry, SEBI, Corporate Ministry Finance Ministry, RBI and state governments to check various concerns that he has on company offering mobile phone for Rs 251– which is the world’s cheapest. (Also read: Here’s why the Freedom 251 costs just Rs 251 ) While most people are questioning how the company will achieve the Rs 251 price point, Ringing Bells’ Director Mohit Goel goes on to claim that the company will make Rs 31 profit on each unit sold. President Ashok Chadha has also said that the price per unit is around Rs 1500, and not Rs 2500 disclosed during the launch. Now, the only set of people stuck in this entire controversy are the buyers who have placed their orders for the Freedom 251 and are clueless on the arrival of the device. However, the cash on delivery option makes it easier as one doesn’t have to key in card details. However, now let’s wait and watch how many people receive the new CoD email.