 "Statistics, office,")
The pandemic may structurally change the way data is collected for official statistics. The government is examining options, including the use of mobile applications for reporting price data to compute retail inflation.
Through an application-based system, shopkeepers will be able to update price information in a format every month, partly doing away with the need for visits by field investigators.
The objective is to ensure sustained data quality and collection amid a lockdown or a pandemic-type of situation in the future as well.
With closed shops and markets, field officers worked remotely and collected information on the telephone in April for the consumer
