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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local....

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local. This reversal owes much to policy. The recent rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which trimmed rates across categories from garments to home furnishings, has given consumption a timely push. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s September rate cuts, combined with income tax relief and easing interest rates, have strengthened household budgets just as inflation softened. The middle class, long squeezed between rising costs and stagnant wages, has found reason to spend again. Retailers report that shoppers filled their bags with everything from lab-grown diamonds and casual wear to consumer durables and décor, blurring the line between necessity and indulgence. The effect has been broad-based. According to Crisil Ratings, 40 organised apparel retailers, who together generate roughly a third of the sector’s revenue, could see growth of 13–14 percent this financial year, aided by a 200-basis-point bump from GST cuts alone. Small traders too have flourished. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) estimates that 85 percent of total festive trade came from non-corporate and traditional markets, a robust comeback for brick-and-mortar retail that had been under siege from online rivals. This surge signals a subtle but significant cultural shift. The “Vocal for Local” and “Swadeshi Diwali” campaigns struck a patriotic chord, with consumers reportedly preferring Indian-made products to imported ones. Demand for Chinese goods fell sharply, while sales of Indian-manufactured products rose by a quarter over last year. For the first time in years, “buying Indian” has become both an act of economic participation and of national pride. The sectoral spread of this boom underlines its breadth. Groceries and fast-moving consumer goods accounted for 12 percent of the total, gold and jewellery 10 percent, and electronics 8 percent. Even traditionally modest categories like home furnishings, décor and confectionery recorded double-digit growth. In the smaller towns that anchor India’s consumption story, traders say stable prices and improved affordability kept registers ringing late into the festive weekend. Yet, much of this buoyancy rests on a fragile equilibrium. Inflation remains contained, and interest rates have been eased, but both could tighten again. Sustaining this spurt will require continued fiscal prudence and regulatory clarity, especially as digital commerce continues to expand its reach. Yet for now, the signs are auspicious. After years of subdued demand and inflationary unease, India’s shoppers appear to have rediscovered their appetite for consumption and their faith in domestic enterprise. The result is not only a record-breaking Diwali, but a reaffirmation of the local marketplace as the heartbeat of India’s economy.

Content Harming Our Kids

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Any medium is a double-edged sword, and this is true for smartphones and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. As part of the Prabodhini Fellowship by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (RMP) in 2025, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 101 parents of children aged 10–15 in Vadodara, Gujarat. Ninety-five per cent expressed concern over the content their children access on OTT platforms. A controversial episode involving YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia highlighted ineffective content regulation. This event prompted the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to issue an advisory urging stricter age classifications and compliance with the IT Rules 2021.


OTT refers to internet-based apps and services like WhatsApp, Skype, and Instagram that operate independently of telecom providers. OTT media enables streaming of live, delayed, or recorded content. OCC includes on-demand web series and shows on OTT, outside of traditional censorship.


Fuelled by the Jio Revolution and the COVID-19 lockdown, India saw a meteoric rise in OTT consumption. As per KPMG, OTT subscribers in India are projected to hit 627 million in 2025, with the market reaching Rs 103.9 billion at a CAGR of 32%. With this comes responsibility. But shows like Mirzapur, Gandi Baat, and Narcos depict violence, explicit language, profanity, substance use, and adult themes that negatively influence children, desensitise them to aggression, induce fear or anxiety, encourage risky behaviour, normalise inappropriate language, and influence perceptions of relationships and lifestyles. Educational and informative series like Our Planet and Explained enhance knowledge, critical thinking, and awareness, and demonstrate OTT’s positive potential. Unfortunately, many platforms prioritise popularity over responsibility.


Legal framework

Currently, there’s no specific legislation for OCC. While the IT Act, 2000, offers a broad framework, and the IT Rules, 2021, introduce a self-regulatory code with a three-tier grievance mechanism, the model lacks enforceability. This ‘self-regulation’ without accountability risks turning into ‘no regulation’ because of the non-binding nature of self-regulation. Moreover, content regulation post-release acts as a post-mortem action after the harm is done. In a data-driven world, pre-emptive regulation is necessary.


Accessing pornographic sites is in demand and often defended under the right to privacy. However, the Uttarakhand High Court upheld the Government of India’s order to ban many porn sites, noting that such content can fuel violent sexual behaviour. Certain web series have a significant impact on young minds, with crime cases inspired by shows like Money Heist (Lucknow) and Bhaukal (Delhi).


Parental controls

Parental controls are features in apps, devices, and software that help parents restrict age-inappropriate content, monitor usage, and set screen time limits. These controls range from content filters to app blockers. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Zee5 offer such features. My findings were revealing.

• 78% of children watch OTT content for over an hour daily

• YouTube is the most accessed platform, followed by Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, and Prime Video

• Over 60% of children watch content unsupervised as parents are busy

• Many parents set filters, monitor viewing history, or watch content with children, but 10% have no strategy

• Only 50% of parents are aware of parental controls, increasing the risk

• Over 70% of parents regularly discuss OTT content with children, which is a positive step

• 78% don’t allow children to watch age-inappropriate web series, but worry about indirect exposure via reels

• 77.3% of parents demanded stronger laws to regulate OTT content


Measures and Concerns

Parents reported taking steps such as:

• Using parental controls (50.6%)

• Discussing content rules (56.3%)

• Enforcing viewing schedules (44.8%)

• Co-viewing content (41.4%)


Recommendations

• Uphold prevailing social morality standards

• Clear legal definitions of OTT, web series, and movies

• Conduct independent audits of OCC, impose penalties, and license cancellation for repeated violations

• Mandate annual user age declarations and enforce OTP-based access

• Promote physical and mental activities to reduce overreliance on digital entertainment

• Run digital literacy campaigns about safe digital habits, similar to ‘Good touch – Bad touch’

• Ensure that OTT platforms give responsible content

• Enforce age restrictions on social media to curb the rising ‘reel culture’

• Monitor foreign web content to prevent cultural dilution

• Ban inappropriate or suggestive thumbnails and clickbait content

• Mandate default controls on child profiles, aligning with global best practices


OTT platforms offer cultural and economic potential. The government has launched initiatives like OTT awards at the 54th International Film Festival of India. But, for OTT to contribute meaningfully to Viksit Bharat 2047, it must balance creative freedom with social accountability.


(The author is a research fellow at Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, Mumbai.)

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