Mumbai: Expressing deep shock over gross negligence and hazardous workmanship during a home renovation that led to a heavy kitchen cabinet shutter falling on the head of the complainant’s wife and left live wires exposed in a Goregaon flat, the state consumer disputes redressal commission has held an interior design firm guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practices, and ordered it to pay the complainant Rs 87.2 lakh as refund and compensation.The commission observed that the company, Livspace India Pvt Ltd, promised the complainant, Deepak Ruiya, premium, high-grade materials, branded products and a premium modular kitchen range and took Rs 71.6 lakh from him as payment. “However, upon execution, [the company] systematically substituted these with inferior, low-grade alternatives… This bait-and-switch tactic constitutes an unfair trade practice... as it misleads consumers regarding the standard, quality, and grade of services and goods promised,” it said.It noted several severe safety breaches, including uninsulated live electrical wires left exposed behind bed panels. “…Leaving a residential premises in such a dangerous, unfinished and structurally compromised state represents the epitome of negligence and deficiency in service,” it said.The commission also took note of the administrative chaos and lack of professional oversight on the part of the company. “The record shows that key designated personnel, such as the senior designer… unceremoniously exited the project without notice, and his successor… subsequently left the organisation in July 2024. The [company] unilaterally substituted project managers and designers without the complainant’s consent or concurrence, leaving the project completely rudderless for months. This erratic management directly contributed to substandard execution and severe delay,” it said.Livspace did not appear before the commission despite notice and newspaper publication, and the matter proceeded ex parte in July 2025.
