Shop for free & get paid for effort!

Shop for free & get paid for effort!

Devanshi Joshi. Ahmedabad/DNA
Sunday, June 08, 2008

Want to shop without spending any money, and then get paid for the effort? The baffling deal is too good to be true, you say? It is, unless you are a mystery shopper — someone who is contracted by such facilities as retail stores, movie theatres, and restaurants to secretly evaluate services and products in the guise of an ordinary shopper. Trained researchers who operate with carefully defined assessment parameters engage in mystery shopping. Raj Sharma, the co-founder & president of Majestic Market Research Support Services, said, “The most common places where mystery shopping is carried out are retail stores, movie theatres, restaurants and fast-food chains.” He added that banks, gas stations, car dealerships, apartments and health clubs, and healthcare facilities also used mystery shoppers.“Mystery shopping originated in developed economies but now it has become popular in India too,” Sharma said. “We have 800 to 900 mystery shoppers in Gujarat, out of whom 45% to 50% are based in Ahmedabad.”Companies invest anything between Rs30 lakh and Rs40 lakh per year in mystery shopping. Such huge investments have been drawing an ever-growing number of people to mystery shopping assignments. It is easy to see why: the task offers extra income for easy work, and mystery shoppers enjoy free products and services. A mystery shoppers income depends on the assignment and on his or her profile. At the entry-level, the earning is Rs300 per assignment but experienced mystery shoppers who have carried out splurging expeditions for large corporations can earn up to Rs5,000 per outing. Mystery shoppers contend that they are an important part of consumer research initiatives because their feedback helps companies retool services, attract new customers, and reward valuable employees.

(ICAI) plans to start a course for accounting technicians.

(ICAI) plans to start a course for accounting technicians.

Devanshi Joshi/DNA

The Western India Regional Conference organised the 23rd WIRC regional conference at C.C. Mehta Auditorium of M.S. University of Baroda on Friday. More than 750 chartered accountants participated.

To fulfill the demand for trained accounting professionals and to support chartered accountants (CAs), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) plans to start a course for accounting technicians.Uttam Prakash Agarwal, vice-president, ICAI said: "This course is aimed at supporting CAs and to meet the demand for accountants in the industry." Accounting technicians work in areas of accounting and finance, supporting CAs and associate CAs. Prakash said the institute plans to produce one lakh accounting technicians in the first phase. "The industry needs qualified accountants, and CAs require qualified support. The accounting technician course will bridge both needs at the same time," he said."Careers in finance and accounting have become popular, and chartered accountancy is the most prestigious option in the field. With the increase in job opportunities in finance and accounting, the demand for finance course is also rising," said B.M. Agarwal, chairman of the Western India regional council of ICAI.Enrolment to the one-year accounting technicians' course will be carried out through a centralised system. Anyone who has passed class XII can apply for the course, which will cover accountancy and finance.The ICAI president said campus interviews conducted by ICAI would give students fair placement opportunities within a year completing the course. With the increasing demand for accountants, accounting technicians could get job opportunities not only in financial firms, but also in other industries such as IT, Banking and BPO/KPO outfits.

Inflation throws education budget out of gear

Inflation throws education budget out of gear

Devanshi Joshi/ DNA MONEY Thursday, 12 June

The re-opening of schools has not been good news for many middle-class parents. For, they see a daunting task ahead to bear the additional expenses for their wards in the face of rising costs of everything.
Be it school fees, books and notebooks, uniforms or conveyance - the costs have gone up by an average 12% this year. Parents say this rise is over what the costs were during the last academic session.

This year, the price of digest has risen by 12 to 13% compared to last year's, while in case of notebooks the rise is more than 10%. In school uniforms, the rise has been anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 100. To add to the woes of the parents, the rise in coaching class fees has been very frequent.
The hike in petrol prices has affected the costs of conveyance, too. Autorickshaw drivers are charging Rs 100 to Rs 150 more than what they charged last year.
Milan Patel, a shop-owner in Usmanpura, had to break his year-long savings to bear the educational expenses of his two daughters. "Bearing the educational expenses of my daughters, Simoli (class 7th) and Trisha (class 5th), has become a daunting task for me and my wife. The school has already taken an undertaking from us to the effect that we don't have any objection with increase in fees. Due to hike in prices of study material, uniform and school fees, I am finding myself helpless in setting a normal household budget," he said.
Avani Bhatt, a homemaker living at CG Road, says it is very difficult to meet the rising expenses. "My son Ayush is studying in class 8th and with the re-opening of his school, the tuition fee has increased by Rs 2,000 a year. Earlier, I used to pay Rs 12,000 a year as tuition fee but now I will have to pay Rs 14,000. The school also charges extra fees on different heads like computer, activity and project. It is really difficult to meet the expenses," she said.
In addition to these expenses, there is also another hurdle. Coaching classes have become sort of compulsory. And the fees in case of coaching classes have also gone up.

According to Kaushik Patel, a businessman living in Vadodara, education these days has become a business. "The fees of my children Varun (class10th) and Dhruti (class 8th) include coaching class fees Rs 26,000 a year and school fees Rs 12,000 a year. Apart from fees, one has to bear the costs of books, digests, uniforms, conveyance, etc," he said.

Another thing that troubles many parents is that the earnings are not increasing in proportion to the rising expenses. Ravji Chauhan, an employee in a private firm in Rajkot, said: "I don't have that much earning which can bear my children's educational expenses and that is why my son works part-time to support his educational expenses. This year due to rise in prices of study material and coaching fees, we are finding it difficult to cope up with educational expenses of our children."