Consumer service price index in India

Services producer price index is compiled in various countries, namely United Kingdom, Sweden, Netherlands, Japan and others, but the available literature has rare mention about the compilation of consumer service price index (CSPI) in any country as an independent indicator. Items, coming under the category of service, are consumed at the moment when these are produced. Services are neither stored nor transported. There are a number of services, which are utilised by other producers only. On the other hand, there are many services which are consumed either by the ultimate consumers or by both producers and consumers. Prices of services have a general tendency to rise. It rarely goes down. With the passage of time, people have started spending more on services; therefore, in the country like India, CSPI is important so that we can measure the pulse of the individuals with reference to changes in the price of services consumed by them. The paper attempts to suggest a CSPI, comprising the service items covered in the Consumer Expenditure Survey, conducted by the National Sample Survey Office.