7th Pay Commission: The Modi government had recently increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) of central government employees, after which there are reports about a hike in the HRA.
The government has increased the DA by 3% to 34%. Now if media reports are to be believed, then by the end of this month, the Central Government can give another surprise to its employees. After DA, the government can also increase other allowances like the House Rent Allowance (HRA).
HRA was increased in July 2021
The last hike in HRA was seen in July last year. Then the DA had crossed the 25% mark. At that time the government had increased the DA to 28 percent. Now that the government has increased DA, then HRA can also be hiked.
If the HRA is increased, then there can be a big increase in the salary of Central government employees working in various departments.
How much will the HRA increase?
According to media reports, the HRA of government employees may soon increase to 3%. Employees in X category cities may see a 3% hike in their HRA, while Y category cities may see a 2% hike in their allowances. Apart from this, the HRA of employees in Z category cities can also increase by up to 1%.
This means the House Rent Allowance or HRA of government employees will increase from 27% to 30%.
How HRA is decided
HRA for government employees is determined by the category of the city in which they work. There are basically three categories X, Y and Z. Class X employees are getting HRA at the rate of 27% of their basic salary. The Y category gets HRA at the rate of 18 to 20 percent. Whereas, the Z category gets HRA at the rate of 9 to 10 percent. This rate varies by area and city.
It must be noted that more than one crore central government employees & pensioners got a hike in their Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief last month. DA & DR have been hiked by 3 percent to 34 percent to compensate for the price rise.
