The method of measuring retail inflation (CPI) in the country has now changed. The new series has been implemented from Thursday, in which the base year has been changed to 2024 instead of 2012. This means that now the increase or decrease in prices will be compared considering 2024 as the basis. The special thing is that for the first time in this new system, digital expenses like e-commerce, online shopping and OTT subscription have also been included.
The base year is the reference year against which prices are compared. For the first time since 2012, it has been updated to 2024. Experts believe that this will better reflect the current spending trends of consumers, as there has been a major change in people’s purchasing habits in the last decade.
Large scope of rural-urban markets
The new series covers 1,465 rural and 1,395 urban markets, spread across 434 towns. Apart from this, 12 online markets in 12 cities with population more than 25 lakh have also been included. Price data from rural and urban markets will be collected every month, while online prices will be taken on a weekly basis.
Entry of e-commerce and OTT
In view of the increasing influence of the digital economy, the prices of goods sold on e-commerce platforms will now be directly included in the inflation calculation. Besides, air fare, telephone services and subscription fees of OTT platforms (like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Jio Hotstar and Sony Liv) will also be raised from online sources. Both prepaid and postpaid plans have been added to the mobile tariff index. Data like rail fare and postal charges will be collected from the concerned ministries and departments.
The number of goods and services increased
The number of weighted items at all India level has been increased from 299 to 358. In this, goods have increased from 259 to 308 and services have increased from 40 to 50. This will give a more comprehensive picture of consumer spending.
The portion of food items reduced
In the new system, the share of food items has been reduced to 36.75%. This change has been made because new UN standards have now been adopted. Earlier the share of food and beverages in the inflation calculation was more than 45%, but now it has been reduced.
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