Ahmedabad life: Available at your service, for a high price

Rising inflation is a cause of concern for every individual. During the week ending December 25, food inflation touched 18.32%, which came as a shock for everyone. Directly or indirectly, it builds a chain whereby soaring figures affect the entire market.

Knowingly or otherwise, we are paying higher prices for various other commodities and services as well.
Although food is our basic necessity, there are various other services like those of a doctor, laundry, plumber, mechanic, transport, barber, tailor and many others which an individual cannot  do without.

The increase in the standard of living, along with busy schedules, cost of these services is on the rise and with a considerable hike in prices of basic commodities, these services have not been spared either.

Service of a doctor is something that is needed in every household. When  the season changes viruses cause sicknesses.

There has been an average rise of 67% over a year in the fees charged by doctors, with only a few exceptions. “My focus is on services rather than charges, which is why with the start of the year 2011, despite high inflation I have not increased my fees,” said Dr Pankajkumar Mehta.

Similarly, coiffeur services are unavoidable by almost everyone. There has been a whopping 50% increase in the charges of hair cut over the year.

“With increased cost of living, we were forced to increase our charges for haircut by Rs15 which is visible across the board,” said Devji Vaghela of Elite Hair Art. Agreeing with Vaghela, Arjun Chauhan of Ashish Hair Art says, “As we have gone for price increase about a month ago, we cannot raise the price again. Hence, to compensate for that, we have stopped offering discount to our customers.”

Public transport is an important mode of commutation for many. While auto rickshaw fares have risen by 43%, the fare of six seaters has gone up by 25%. Considering the minimum fare of Rs10 very little, Jignesh Gadvadhar, an auto rickshaw driver moans:

 “The increased rate of CNG is not in keeping with the increased auto rickshaw fare. Government should look into this for the benefit of society.” Another auto rickshaw driver Atul Patel said, “In these times of rising inflation and limited income, it has become difficult to save.”

Charges of plumbers and mechanics have also seen a rise by 20% to 100%. Almost every one asserted that increased charge was a necessity for them owing to increased cost of living.

Mechanic Asif Shiekh said, “The increased cost of spare parts and accessories have forced us to raise our prices.” Both plumbers and the mechanics feel that though they have increased their charges, it is difficult for them to manage their expenses.

To add to the list is laundry, a service used by everyone. The cost of ironing has shot up two to three times over a year. Even tailoring services have seen an average rise of 67% in their charges owing to rising inflation that increases their cost of living.

“For a start up like mine, where I am struggling to make a mark in the market, I had to increase my prices marginally in lieu of my increasing expenses,” said Rini Vakil, a fashion designer. Laundry service provider SS Kanojiya expressed similar views.

 “We have not increased our rates for dry cleaning but for ironing where earlier we used to charge Rs2 per piece, now we now charge Rs6 per piece.”