A method of controlling a radio resource control (RRC) state includes: when user equipment (UE) is in an RRC inactive state and has to-be-transmitted service data, UE information of the UE and data information of the to-be-transmitted service data for the UE are determined; and when the UE information of the UE and/or the data information of the to-be-transmitted service data for the UE satisfy a preset condition, the UE is controlled to switch to an RRC connected state. An apparatus and a base station employing the method can accurately and effectively determine the RRC state of the UE, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of service data between the base station and the UE.