The government is for the first time trying to get a handle on the country’s booming e-commerce market through a new survey and data available through the Goods and Services Tax.

In its latest 74th round survey, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) is asking the consumers if they have used e-commerce websites.

“There is a question in the household consumer expenditure survey, which is simply trying to see whether households use e-commerce in any form as part of their usual household transactions,” said TCA Anant, Chief Statistician and Secretary Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The first results of the survey, which will cover the entire country, are likely to be released in late 2018.

But in the interim, the Ministry is also working with the Department of Revenue to tap into the data with the GST Network on taxpayers and businesses.

“GST is going to throw light on the total amount of e-commerce as there are separate provisions in GST for taxing of e-commerce and transactions through e-commerce entities,”Anant told BusinessLine , adding that this will go beyond what will be available through the NSSO survey.

“We will get very good statistics on overall size, dimension and importance of e-commerce through GSTN. No matter what we do in household surveys, we will get very limited data on e-commerce and that too on final consumption or B2C (business-to-consumer) consumption. Our intent with the survey is only to see whether households are exposed to it,” he said.

In contrast, with GST, granular transaction level data on both B2C and B2B (business-to-business) will be available, he pointed out.

The move comes at a time when there are no official estimates on e-commerce sales in the country although it is considered to be one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

Quoting figures from industry body Nasscom, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs CR Chaudhary had recently informed Parliament that India’s e-commerce sector is expected to touch $33 billion this fiscal after a 19 per cent growth in 2016-17.

GSTN base

Anant said that the GSTN database will also give data on other aspects. The Ministry has now set up a group to study the “structure and forms created for GST” and is in dialogue with the Department of Revenue, GSTN and the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

“My sense is that over a period of time it will become the most significant source of data for economic activities in the country. This will give much more detailed data on production and disposition of goods and services in the country,” he said.

But, it is still being studied and will take some time, he cautioned.

Nearly 80 lakh assessees have enrolled on the GSTN portal for filing of monthly returns and will upload invoices of inward and outward supplies and sales.

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