Xiaomi removes COD option for Redmi Note 5 Pro to curb unauthorized resale of phones

As Xiaomi continues to see an increased demand for its smartphones in the Indian market, with them being sold out in seconds during flash sales online, the company has also detected an on-going fraud in the form of resellers. This has led Xiaomi to remove Cash on Delivery (CoD) option for its Redmi Note 5 Pro smartphone.

The Chinese smartphone maker said in a post that it has come across some users who have been increasingly rejecting orders upon delivery.

“This increases the operational cost which makes it really difficult for us to keep our products affordable for all Mi fans. In order to protect the interest of our Mi fans, we have started identifying such suspicious Mi IDs and have put a check on their orders,” the company said.

What is the suspicion?

According to a Hindustan Times report, several third party sellers and individuals have been placing a COD order for the purpose of reselling the phone via unofficial channels, which also include non-Xiaomi partner platform. But when they do not find a buyer for the phone, they tend to reject the delivery.

And because these resellers are ordering a high number of smartphones, many customers are unable to purchase the phone.

In order to curb this practice, Xiaomi has removed COD option for its latest Redmi Note 5 Pro smartphone. Customers will not be able to place COD orders on mi.com and Flipkart during initial sales.

Xiaomi confirmed this trend in December last year, HT reports.

“In order to restrict reselling, we have decided to remove COD payment option for the upcoming sales of Redmi Note 5 Pro on mi.com and Flipkart (Only for initial few sales). This would give a better chance to our Mi fans to purchase our products. We have always, and will continue to stringently discourage unauthorized reselling across all our channels,” it said in a post in its forum.

Xiaomi has also started identifying suspicious Mi IDs and are restricting them from placing an order on mi.com, redeeming coupons, etc.

In order to protect an Mi account from getting blocked, Xiaomi has cautioned users against ordering too many phones in a short span, has asked them to  keep a check on rejection of COD orders over a specified number, share proper and clear addresses and refrain ordering from multiple IDs with the same user info

Xiaomi’s smartphones are some of the highest selling smartphones in India. In fact, 3 lakh units of the Redmi Note 5 Pro were sold out in less than three minutes during the first flash sale last week.