A television set has a marked price of ₹ 20,000. It is sold after two successive discounts. If the first discount is 15% and the final selling price is ₹ 15,300, what is the percentage of the second discount?

Correct — A. Apply the first discount, then find what share of that reduced price the second discount took.

Marked price: ₹20,000
After 15% off: 20,000 × 0.85 = ₹17,000
Second discount in rupees: 17,000 − 15,300 = ₹1,700
Second discount rate: 1,700 ÷ 17,000 × 100 = 10% → option (a)

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  12% — 12% on ₹17,000 leaves 17,000 × 0.88 = ₹14,960, which is ₹340 below the ₹15,300 the question gives.
• (c)
  14% — 14% on ₹17,000 leaves 17,000 × 0.86 = ₹14,620, well short of the ₹15,300 actually paid.
• (d)
  15% — Repeating the first discount gives 17,000 × 0.85 = ₹14,450, not ₹15,300. The second rate has to be found from the prices, not assumed equal to the first.

Successive discounts multiply; they do not add. The second discount is taken on the price left after the first, not on the marked price.

So the multipliers chain: 20,000 × 0.85 × (1 − d) = 15,300. That gives 1 − d = 15,300 ÷ 17,000 = 0.9, so d = 10%.

Key facts

• The second discount is a percentage of the price after the first discount.
• Successive discounts a% and b% equal a single discount of (a + b − ab⁄100)%.
• Price after a discount of d% = price × (1 − d⁄100).

Common traps

• Dividing ₹1,700 by the marked price ₹20,000 and getting 8.5% — the base for the second discount is ₹17,000.
• Subtracting 15% from the total discount of 23.5% to get 8.5% — successive discounts do not add.

No directly related past PYQ was found.