RAS question
Which of the following was the first payment bank in India to start operations?
Correct answer: (A) Airtel Payments Bank.
Airtel Payments Bank was the first payments bank in India to start operations, going live on November 23, 2016.
Explanation
Airtel Payments Bank is the right answer because it was the first payments bank to go live in India in November 2016. The Reserve Bank of India press release confirms that Airtel Payments Bank Limited commenced operations as a payments bank with effect from November 23, 2016, and that RBI had issued it a licence under Section 22(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on payments bank business in India. The broader concept is also important: payments banks can accept deposits up to Rs 2 lakh but cannot lend, and the model was recommended by the Nachiket Mor Committee.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Paytm Payments Bank started operations later, so it cannot be the first payments bank in India to go live.
- (C) Jio Payments Bank started later than Airtel Payments Bank, so it does not match the first-to-start requirement in the question.
- (D) India Post Payments Bank also started later, making it a later entrant rather than India's first operational payments bank.
Concept
This tests financial inclusion and banking-sector reform, especially the payments bank model recommended by the Nachiket Mor Committee. It recurs in RAS because RBI-regulated institutions, differentiated banks, deposit limits, and non-lending restrictions are standard Indian Economy themes.