Which of the following is not true about Public goods ?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Available free to users
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, none of the given options appears to be correct. As per the NCERT book, all four statements are true of public goods, so the question has no correct option, as explained below.
Public goods are goods like national defence, roads and government administration. Their benefits are available to all, and it is hard to stop anyone from enjoying them. So people cannot be made to pay for each use, and the government provides them.
Option (1) Benefit are available to all — True. The benefits are not limited to one consumer. One person’s use does not reduce what others can enjoy.
Option (2) May be produced by private sector — True. The government pays for public goods through the budget. But the goods may be produced by the government or by private firms. Paying for a good and producing it are two different things.
Option (3) Benefit not exclude anyone from enjoying the benefits — True. It is difficult to keep anyone out of the benefits of a public good, such as national defence.
Option (4) Available free to users — True. The answer given by NTA, but it seems to be incorrect. This statement is true. We do not pay anything when we use a public road or a street light. The government pays for these goods from its budget. So public goods are free to users.
NCERT (2026-27): “Allocation Function of Government Budget Government provides certain goods and services which cannot be provided by the market mechanism i.e. by exchange between individual consumers and producers. Examples of such goods are national defence, roads, government administration etc. which are referred to as public goods. To understand why public goods need to be provided by the government, we must understand the difference between private goods such as clothes, cars, food items etc. and public goods. There are two major differences. One, the benefits of public goods are available to all and are not only restricted to one particular consumer.… Two, in case of private goods anyone who does not pay for the goods can be excluded from enjoying its benefits. If you do not buy a ticket, you will not be allowed to watch a movie at a local cinema hall. However, in case of public goods, there is no feasible way of excluding anyone from enjoying the benefits of the good. That is why public goods are called non-excludable.… …There is, however, a difference between public provision and public production. Public provision means that they are financed through the budget and can be used without any direct payment. Public goods may be produced by the government or the private sector. When goods are produced directly by the government it is called public production.” |