Your Freedom 251 Money Is Safe With Us, for Now: PayU

The payment gateway provider has assigned an escrow account to hold the money accrued by Ringing Bells.

The story of the world’s cheapest smartphone is getting murkier by the day. The company claims to have gotten payment for 30,000 orders worth up to Rs 75 lacs in just two days, while over 7 crore people have registered for the phone. However, the fear for many consumers is this – if the company is not able to deliver on their rather tall promise, what happens to their money?

But it may not be time to panic yet. At least, that’s what the payment gateway involved with Ringing Bells claims.

Ringing Bells has signed with PayU to act as the payment gateway platform for prospective buyers of the Freedom 251. This basically implies that all the money received from orders for Freedom 251 have been stored with PayU in an escrow account in a bank that is registered under their name.

Also Read: Ringing Bells Says the Freedom 251 Smartphone Is Not a Scam!

This was confirmed by PayU when The Quint got in touch with them.

We have kept the order amount in our escrow account that cannot be touched by the merchant until and unless they fulfill their orders and deliver the product. Also, the company is not liable to pay Ringing Bells any interest for the same.

PayU Statement

Also Read: Ring(ing) Bells of Caution: Why You Should Not Buy the Freedom 251

If Ringing Bells wants to earn its money, then not only do they have to complete their delivery commitment, they also need to submit Proof of Display to PayU which certifies the completion of the arrangement between both the parties.

Also Read: Is Ringing Bells Conning Customers With the Freedom 251?

While it’s convenient to go by PayU’s claims, however, big ticket transactions are never as clean as one may think. The curious case of Freedom 251 and the associated company will only get clearer once the stipulated deliveries are initiated by the company.