UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘Wages by cheque will keep away lenders’

Q1. With reference to the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, consider the following statements. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

1. It applies, in the first instance, to persons employed in any factory.
2. It applies to persons employed upon any railway by a railway administration.
3. Deductions from the wages of an employed person are permitted only as authorised by or under the Act.
4. It empowers the appropriate Government to fix and revise the minimum rates of wages for scheduled employments.

• A. 1 and 2
• B. 2 and 3
• C. 1, 2 and 3
• D. 4 only

Q2. Comparing the original (pre-amendment) scheme of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 with its later operation, consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. As originally enacted, the Act required that all wages be paid in current coin or currency notes or in both.
2. As originally enacted, wages could be paid by cheque only after obtaining the written authorisation of the employed person.
3. An application to the authority regarding a wrongful deduction must be presented within six months from the date on which the deduction was made.

• A. 1 only
• B. 1 and 2 only
• C. 2 and 3 only
• D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. With reference to the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017, consider the following statements. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. It removed the requirement of obtaining written authorisation from the employee for payment of wages by cheque or bank credit.
2. It was given effect with effect from 28 December 2016.
3. It empowered the appropriate Government to notify, by Official Gazette, establishments that must pay wages only by cheque or bank credit.
4. It designated the Reserve Bank of India as the authority to notify such establishments.

• A. 1, 2 and 3
• B. 1 and 4
• C. 2, 3 and 4
• D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q4. Under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the power to enhance by notification the monthly wage ceiling below which the Act applies to employed persons vests primarily in which one of the following?

• A. The Central Government
• B. The Reserve Bank of India
• C. The Central Advisory Board constituted under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948
• D. The State Governments acting solely on their own

Q5. The following are figures that have at some time been the monthly wage ceiling below which the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 applied. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

1. Rs. 1,600 per month (as originally applicable).
2. Rs. 6,500 per month.
3. Rs. 18,000 per month.
4. Rs. 21,000 per month.

• A. 1 and 2
• B. 3 only
• C. 4 only
• D. 2 and 4

Q6. The Code on Wages, 2019 subsumes and rationalises certain earlier central enactments. With reference to these, consider the following. Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified as an Act subsumed by the Code on Wages, 2019?

1. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
2. The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965.
3. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
4. The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

• A. 1 and 3
• B. 2 only
• C. 4 only
• D. 1, 2 and 3

Q7. With reference to the four Labour Codes and the Code on Wages, 2019, consider the following statements. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. The four Labour Codes were made effective from 21 November 2025.
2. The four Codes rationalise 29 existing central labour laws.
3. The Code on Wages, 2019 extends the statutory right to minimum wages to workers in both the organised and unorganised sectors.
4. Under the earlier Minimum Wages Act, 1948, minimum wages applied to every employment in the country without any exception.

• A. 1, 2 and 3
• B. 1, 3 and 4
• C. 2 and 4 only
• D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q8. Which one of the following is the flagship National Mission for Financial Inclusion under which basic 'no-frills' bank accounts are opened to bring poor households out of the clutches of usurious moneylenders and to route benefits directly?

• A. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
• B. Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
• C. Stand-Up India Scheme
• D. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana

Q9. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which routes wages and benefits through the banking system to reduce reliance on informal credit, is implemented by which one of the following?

• A. Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance
• B. Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Labour and Employment
• C. Ministry of Rural Development
• D. Reserve Bank of India

Q10. Cheque-based wage payment was first enabled by an Ordinance that was later replaced by an Amendment Bill piloted in Parliament. Wage-payment legislation of this kind falls within the administrative purview of which one of the following Union Ministries?

• A. Ministry of Labour and Employment
• B. Ministry of Finance
• C. Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• D. Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Q11. Distinguishing the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 from the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, consider the following statements. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

1. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 empowers the appropriate Government to fix and revise the minimum rates of wages.
2. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 principally regulates the time and mode of payment of wages and the deductions that may be made.
3. Under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, minimum wages are to be reviewed at intervals not exceeding five years.
4. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 is the sole statute that fixes the actual money rate of wages payable to every worker.

• A. 1, 2 and 3
• B. 1 and 4 only
• C. 2, 3 and 4
• D. 1, 2, 3 and 4