NEW DELHI: Feeling the pinch of the steep hike in fuel prices and the consequent rise in rates of essential commodities, consumers have devised unique ways to offset the rising expenditure. LocalCircles conducted a survey to gauge the mood of consumers and how they were handling the fuel price increase and what products had been affected by the fuel price hike.
The survey disclosed what the common man is doing to cope with the rising prices.
While 36 per cent of the respondents surveyed said they cut discretionary spending like vacations, movies, shopping, eating out etc., 16 per cent optimised or reduced monthly spending on essentials and 17 per cent said they will move to public or shared transportation while 31 per cent do not plan to adjust their spending.
Following the successive rise in petrol and diesel prices after the Karnataka elections , a marginal drop of a few paisa per litre was announced recently. But this miniature drop in fuel prices will not help reverse the rise in prices of basic commodities like fresh vegetables, fruits and milk among others.
Logistics constitutes a major cost in most essential household consumables and due to the fuel price increase, these products have now started witnessing a rise in prices.