NEW DELHI: Noida-based startup Ringing Bells, the makers of the world’s cheapest smartphone- Freedom 251, is reportedly refunding the payments that it had accepted on the first pre-booking date. The company stated that it had accepted payments from the first 30,000 orders, after which their website had crashed.

According to news channel ABP News, Ringing Bells MD Mohit Goel has claimed that the company has refunded the money of all 30,000 customers and said that the company will accept cash on delivery only.

Notably, after the first 30,000 bookings were made, the company did not ask for any booking amount after its website was live after a 24-hour outage. Once the second round of booking were made live on the website, the company allowed people to book one Freedom 251 unit with one email ID and mobile number.

After a particular booking was successfully accepted, Ringing Bells said that the customer would receive a payment link on the registered email ID to confirm their booking within 48 hours. However, it did not send any payments related email to its customers.

“The company has decided that we will, henceforth, offer ‘cash on delivery’ mode of payments for those who have placed an order for the ‘Freedom 251’ smartphone. This will ensure further transparency and clear any misgivings,” Ringing Bells president Ashok Chadha said in an official statement.