BJP MP calls Freedom 251 smartphone booking ‘bogus company scam’
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya on Friday called the sale of ‘Freedom 251’ – dubbed by many as the world’s cheapest cell phone – a ‘ponzi fake business scam’.
That is why I went through all the documents of the company. The government has advised the Uttar Pradesh government to assess the bonafide of the promoter. This is a “ponzi bogus company scam,” Somaiya told ANI.
The BJP MP said he has approached consumer ministry, telecom regulator, the telecom ministry, market regulator Sebi, corporate ministry, finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India to check various concerns he has over the company offering mobile phone for Rs 251.
Noida-based company bookings started for the cell phone for Rs 251 and said the delivery of all handsets will likely be finished by June 30.
Already mired in controversy over its similarity to Apple iPhone layout and appearance and now the Indian authorities keeping a close watch on its four-day booking offer that began from 6 am on Thursday. The Noida-based startup Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd asserted to have received 30,000 affirmed orders and over six lakh hits per second on its website on the first day.
But hours later, the company stopped taking orders after its servers crashed owing to a huge rush to book the apparatus online on www.freedom251.com.
The 3G handset, Freedom 251, features a 4-inch display, Qualcomm 1.3-GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB RAM, according to details shared by the firm.
The BJP MP had previously written a letter to IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, challenging the abnormalities in the company.
In his letter, Somaiya asked whether goal and the target behind the offer were analyzed.
He also questioned the history, the financial status, the owners of Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd, saying that he was “far from convinced” with the reply given by Ashok Chadha, President of Ringing Bells. Chadha, in the defence of merchandise and his company, had said that cost was brought down due to internet marketing and local assembling.
source: via
