A Reliance Lyf smartphone exploded and caught fire on Sunday, and its owner expressed concern over the issue seeking the company’s intervention to recall faulty handsets.
The development comes at a time when Korean handset major Samsung has been engulfed with consumer complaints of its Galaxy Note 7 bursting into flames. Samsung’s Note 7 smartphone hasn’t been launched in India.
Tanvir Sadiq, a Reliance Lyf customer, posted pictures of his exploded smartphone on micro blogging site – Twitter. His post said- 'My family had a narrow escape today after @Reliancejio’s @Reliance_Lyf phone exploded and burst into flames’. A Reliance Lyf team member however reached out to the consumer asking for Sadiq's contact details.
In a statement, a Reliance spokesperson said that Lyf range of phones are designed and manufactured with global standards by some of the world’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones. Each phone goes through a stringent quality control process.
“We are concerned about the incident reported in social media and are taking the matter seriously. We are assessing the cause and will conduct a thorough investigation in the matter. Customer safety is paramount to us and, based on our findings, we will take appropriate action,” the statement added.
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Omar Abdullah also retweeted the Tanveer’s tweet and expressed his worries over the issue. Abdullah also said that he will not be using his handset anytime soon
Lyf is a smartphone brand by Reliance Retail, a sister company of Reliance Jio, which launched services in September. Lyf-branded smartphones were introduced commercially around June-July period of this year to customers seeking free Jio 4G service.
Reliance’s Lyf handset brand climbed up to number four spot in the third quarter with 6.9% market share benefiting from the commercial launch and attractive trial period offer to consumers, market research agency Counterpoint recently said.
