A Next Gen Consumption Survey
The government’s consumption survey could raise a few anti-privacy hackles, but can also potentially assist in policy-level changes
Imagine a scenario where the government has access to user data that goes beyond one’s food habits and grocery demand. Everything from online screen time to shopping habits and OTT subscriptions to fuel bills collected via surveys could help the policymakers constantly review and make course corrections.
Currently, there is one such survey in the works. Called the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, is coming to the fore after more than a decade and would also feature data on ownership of electronic devices and gadgets such as smartphones, smart watches, subscriptions to health diets and much more.
Surveys today, automation tomorrow
While the survey is being managed by the government in the form of responses to questions, the time is not far when they can have automatic access when the digital transformation exercise around online retail and payments are completed. For example, purchases made from businesses linked to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) will take it on auto mode.
Of course, there will be doomsday predictors claiming that the right to privacy would get blown in the wind through such a process, but the point is that most of Gen-Y has already shared such data to Google, Meta and Amazon to name a few. While these big tech companies use the data to grow profits, the same can also be used for better policy administration.
What is the survey all about?
For long, brands have managed to capture data around consumption patterns that includes behaviors such as looking for sales or clicking on ads during their social media time. The current survey, according to a report published by ET, includes areas like mode of spending, time spent online as well as preferences when it comes to booking services.
According to the publication, the first part of the survey is currently on and will end in June after which the second part is slated to begin. As more and more people shift their operations on to digital mode, the chances are that more of this data gets into the hands of those who need it or can pay for it. When it comes to ONDC, there’s no need to pay as it is directly governed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
In the past, these surveys have been conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) though it was not done in the 2017-18 period in their five-year cycle. Of course, one can question the veracity of such surveys, given that India has seldom had periods of stability in the inflation cycle, especially those around the consumer price index (CPI).
The last time round, the survey was postponed citing data inconsistencies, which is why ideas like decentralized digital services make sense. With an AI-layer built on top, the data culled out from digital apps could potentially offer insights to the government on a real-time basis that helps them in course correction.
Data-based governance isn’t new
Such data collection and analytics systems have been prevalent for long with several private entities already utilizing them to ensure price stability and control. One of the early adaptors was Hindustan Unilever which developed its own supply chain systems that controlled production, dispatch and cash flows using the power of data and analytics.
Going forward these surveys could become redundant once the open networks start capturing user data across multiple digital platforms selling everything from a bike ride to an airplane ticket and pretty much everything in between.
