More Trouble For 'Freedom 251,' Adcom To Sue Ringing Bells

NEW DELHI: In a yet another blow to Noida-based startup Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd. that last month launched with much fanfare the world's cheapest 251 (less that $4) smartphone, domestic feature phone brand Advantage Computers' (Adcom) on Friday announced it would take legal action against Ringing Bells.

During the launch last month in the presence of veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi in the capital, Ringing Bells unveiled “Freedom 251” and distributed some “prototypes” to the media which turned out to be Adcom handsets, Adcom's founder and chairman Sanjeev Bhatia said.

Later, Ringing Bells president Ashok Chadha said that they only gave Adome handsets as “samples” to a section of the media and the real “Freedom 251” will be a new product with all promised features.

“We are deeply grieved by this incident where our mobile phone has been presented to masses for 251, and therefore, would not hesitate from taking any legal actions against the company, in case the entire fiasco impacts Adcom's brand name or subsequently we face any other kind of losses," Bhatia said in a statement on Friday.

"Yes, it is true that although we sold the handsets to Ringing Bells earlier, like we sell Adcom mobiles to lakhs of users, we were absolutely unaware of the reselling plans of the company in question," he added.

"Furthermore, we still haven't been able to evaluate their pricing policy as we sold the handsets at 3,600 per unit (to Ringing Bells),” Bhatia said.

Earlier, the Noida offices of Ringing Bells were found shut on Thursday over land ownership issues with Noida Authority.

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