SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 25 September 2024, Shift 2 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 12 of 99

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Naman borrows a sum of ₹3,48,020 at the rate of 8% per annum simple interest. At the end of the first year, he repays ₹15,090 towards return of principal amount borrowed. If Naman clears all pending dues at the end of the second year, including interest payment that accrued during the first year, how much does he pay (in ₹) at the end of the second year?

(a)3,92,733
(b)3,79,386
(c)3,88,931
(d)3,87,406

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Simple interest is charged on the principal outstanding at the start of each year, and the first year's interest stays unpaid until the close.

Year 1 interest = 3,48,020 × 8% = ₹27,841.60
Principal after the ₹15,090 repayment = ₹3,32,930
Year 2 interest = 3,32,930 × 8% = ₹26,634.40

Closing payment = 3,32,930 + 27,841.60 + 26,634.40 = ₹3,87,406 → option (d)

Why the others are wrong

(a)
3,92,733 — 3,92,733 — take away the ₹3,32,930 still owed and this leaves ₹59,803 as interest, ₹5,327 more than the ₹54,476 the two years actually accrue.
(b)
3,79,386 — 3,79,386 — after the outstanding ₹3,32,930 only ₹46,456 is left for interest, well short of ₹54,476. A chunk of one year's interest has gone missing.
(c)
3,88,931 — 3,88,931 — implies ₹56,001 of interest against the ₹54,476 owed. Both yearly figures here are exact to the paisa, so a near miss is still a miss.

Concept

Simple interest never compounds. Each year's interest is the rate applied to the principal outstanding at the start of that year, and unpaid interest does not itself earn interest.

Two quantities move independently. The principal falls once, by the ₹15,090 repaid at the end of year one. The interest accrues twice — on ₹3,48,020 for the first year, on the reduced ₹3,32,930 for the second.

The closing payment settles all three amounts at once: the outstanding principal plus both years of interest.

The ₹15,090 is described as repayment towards return of principal amount borrowed, so it reduces the principal only and leaves the first year's interest standing.

Key facts

Simple interest for a year = principal outstanding at the start of that year × rate.
8% of ₹3,48,020 is ₹27,841.60 and 8% of ₹3,32,930 is ₹26,634.40.
The closing payment is the outstanding ₹3,32,930 plus ₹54,476 of accrued interest.

Study next

Simple interest where the principal changes part-way through the termThe two-year gap between simple and compound interest on the same sumInstalment problems: equal annual payments against a simple-interest loan

Common traps

Charging the second year's interest on the original ₹3,48,020 instead of on ₹3,32,930
Letting the unpaid first-year interest earn interest, which turns this into a compound sum
Subtracting the ₹15,090 from the final amount payable rather than from the principal

SSC prints this stem with a fresh name, principal and rate each time. At 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, Quant Q.23 the loan is ₹6,23,305 at 10% with a ₹16,390 repayment, and the keyed ₹7,29,937 is the identical three-part sum. The same wording runs at 25 Sep 2024, 16:00, Quant Q.11.

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