Nokia, the world's leading maker of mobile phones, said Tuesday it would offer free-of-charge replacements for some of its Nokia BL-5C batteries after around 100 incidents of overheating were reported globally.

No serious property damage or injuries were reported as a result of the incidents, the Finnish company said in a statement.

The batteries were manufactured by Japan's Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd.

Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries who have collectively produced more than 300 million such products.

The product advisory issued Tuesday applied only to the 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006.

"There have been approximately 100 incidents of overheating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported," Nokia said, adding that the overheating occurred while the batteries were being charged.

Nokia mobile phone users were asked to check the 26-character serial number on the back of their phones to compare it with the identification numbers on the Nokia website www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement, or contact a local Nokia call centre.

- AFP

http://www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement/en/

I have a phone with a BL-5C, went through the serial number checker and came up clean. FWIW my phone model was not listed. Not sure how they'll handle replacements here?