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Consumers across rural and urban areas spend a chunk on communication services, a new government survey has found.
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Wednesday released the findings of ‘Key Indicators of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods’.
This survey on household expenditure on services and durable goods, based on related information collected during July 2014 to June 2015, was the first focused survey of its kind undertaken by NSSO. The findings are across four basic categories: transport services, miscellaneous consumer services, other services and durable goods.
“In the case of budget-share of different types of miscellaneous services in rural areas, communication services accounted for the highest share (25.33 per cent) followed by barber & beauty shops (11.07 per cent), TV & radio services (10.58 per cent), repair & maintenance (10.27 per cent) & tailoring services (10.18 per cent),” the survey said.
In urban areas, communication services again accounted for the highest share of budget (26.33 per cent) followed by domestic services (12.11 per cent), TV & radio services (10.22 per cent) and recreational & cultural services (9.95 per cent).
Under this miscellaneous group, 14 broad services such as domestic services, barber & beauty shops, TV & radio services, laundry, dry cleaning, repair & maintenance, communication, religious services, and other services not elsewhere covered were considered.
In terms of monthly per capita expenditure also, highest expenditure was found on communication services amounting to ₹ 36.35 and ₹ 102.46 in rural and urban areas, respectively.
Transport services
As far as transport services are concerned, bus/tram is the most reported means of transport both in rural and urban areas, the survey found.
“About 66 per cent households in rural areas and 62 per cent households in urban areas reported expenditure on this particular mode. Expenditures on bus/tram, auto rickshaw, taxi and train account for more than 90 per cent of the total expenditure on transport both in rural and urban areas,” it added.
Durable goods
When the main purpose of use was for domestic purpose, though the highest budget share was in respect of transport equipment (45 per cent), a notably high budget share of about 23 per cent was observed on jewellery and ornaments followed by heating, cooling and electricity generation devices and IT and communication devices (7 per cent each), and furniture and fixtures (5.6 per cent).
In the urban areas, for domestic use, high share of budget, next to transport equipment, was on jewellery and ornaments (18 per cent) followed by IT & communication (9.9 per cent) and heating, cooling and electricity generation devices (8.1 per cent).
The results of the survey are based on 47,535 households in rural areas and 36,065 households in urban areas.
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