New consumption survey to track your OTT subscriptions

In a bid to capture the consumption patterns better in view of the changing economy, the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) has been revised. After the amendment, made after over a decade, consumers are going to be asked about their OTT subscriptions, online expenditure, where they order their food from, whether it is Swiggy or Zomato, and if they own electric vehicles, as per a report in The Economic Times.

Also covering questions on cab booking apps and channels, the idea of the survey is to know “how much is spent online,” a source familiar with the matter told the publication.

This is being done in order to capture the services sector with precision.

“Currently, from annual private consumption data, the share of services has stayed relatively constant at 48 per cent of private consumption versus 52 per cent for goods. With more updated surveys, the value added by the services sector could be captured better,” Gaura Sengupta, Indian economist at IDFC First Bank, told the publication.

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The survey has been divided into three rounds by the government to ensure that too many questions do not cause inconsistency in answers. The first part will end in June while the second part will begin in July.

The National Statistical Office conducts the HCES every five years, however, the latest survey in 2017-18 had been junked due to data inconsistencies.

These changes come as consumption and delivery of goods and services have evolved, more so after Covid-19. E-commerce has made a significant mark in the daily buying and spending patterns of consumers.

Moreover, since the current series was based on the 2011 survey, some of the items such as VCR/DVD/VCD players, cassettes etc do not exist today.

The upcoming consumption survey will also revise the base year of calculation of consumer prices, since the current one uses 2012 as its base year for the calculation of inflation and consumer price.