Freedom 251 Delay Due to Battery; Lucky Draw to Decide Who Gets a Phone: Report

Ringing Bells, the little-known Noida-based company, made it to the news earlier this year soon after announcing the world's cheapest smartphone - priced at Rs. 251 (less than $4). The company ran into controversy with a few even referring it to as the biggest scam of the millennium. Ringing Bells recently confirmed that it will start deliveries of the handsets from June 30. The biggest question however was how the company plans to hand over the 2 lakh units to the consumers when it received a total of 70 million registrations from across the country.

Ringing Bells' Founder and CEO Mohit Goel has reportedly revealed the smartphone will indeed start shipping from June 30 and also revealed that the delay in shipping of the Freedom 251 was due to issues with the battery. Adding further, Goel said the company is ready to ship the handset and will do so via state-wise lucky draws.

(Also see: Freedom 251: Your 5-Point Cheat Sheet to the Rs. 251 Smartphone)

As per a report by Firstpost, Goel has revealed Ringing Bells will 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 revealed that the company received highest registrations from the state of Uttar Pradesh, totalling at 2.5 crores. Ringing Bells will offer 10,000 units in the state via lucky draw. The Freedom 251 will be offered in other states via a similar lucky draw as well.

Ringing Bells President Ashok Chaddha had earlier explained that the manufacturing cost of the Freedom 251 was about Rs. 2,500 and the company had plans to recover it through a series of measures including economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.

Previously, Ringing Bells spokesperson told Gadgets 360 that it was going to import the handsets. To refresh on the innards of the Freedom 251, the 3G-enabled smartphone features 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, expandable storage support, 8-megapixel rear camera, 3.2-megapixel front camera, 1800mAh battery, and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop.