Nokia recalls charger with potential electrocution risk

Nokia, India's largest cell phone seller, said today it will recall a particular model of chargers sold with a particular handset model as they posed a potential risk of electrocution due to a fault with the cover coming off. CNBC-TV18's Kenan Machado reports.

It may be in the business of connecting people but this time Nokia is disconnecting its chargers. The model in question: AC-3E bundled with Nokia's 7210 model sold after June 15 this year. Nokia said it was recalling these chargers as a precaution and that there were no instances of electrocution or customer complaints.

"It's a precautionary proactive step that we are taking," Shankar Subramanian, Director - Retail, Nokia, said. "We are not waiting for something to happen and reacting on that basis, which is not to say anything will happen but wherever we feel its necessary to take precaution, wherever we feel there is more potential issue where a cover could come free from the charger and could put our consumers at any risk whatsoever, we believe it's our responsibility to act immediately.

On the issue of whether the company's needs to put in more rigorous testing, Subramanium said, "I think the testing that we do is pretty rigorous. I am not somebody who looks after quality testing or quality control personally myself so but I have to say it's of the highest order because we do ship millions of handsets with millions of chargers every month," he said, but added, "Should the tests have been different? Should they have been done in a different manner? That's something which I guess people within the company will be taking a good hard look at."

Nokia said customers can visit their stores to return their chargers or ship them to the company with their costs reimbursed. Nokia refused to quantify the costs involved but it is anyone's guess how much it will cost the trust in their brand.