central government employees waiting for the official consent on payment of 18 months-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears might get good news soon. Notably, the issue regarding payment of DA arrears of 18 months from January 2020 to June 2021 has been pending for cabinet discussion.
As per the consolidated reports, the DA arrears of employees at Level-3 is estimated between Rs 11,880 to Rs 37,554. Similarly, for Level-13 or Level-14, the arrears of employees can range between Rs 1,44,200 to Rs 2,18,200. The government employees will get the 18-month DA arrears in three installments.
According to media reports, the Union Cabinet had on 28 September 2022 approved the release of additional instalment of DA and Dearness Relief at 4 percent to Central Government employees and pensioners due from 01.07.2022 based on the percentage increase in 12 monthly average of All India Consumer Price Index for the period ending June, 2022.
The additional financial implications on account of this increase of DA to central government employees is estimated at Rs.6,591.36 crore per annum; and Rs. 4,394.24 crore in the financial year 2022-23 (for a period of 8 months from July, 2022 to February, 2023).
As per the guidelines, the DA and dearness relief are revised twice a year, on January 1 and July 1 of each year. The recent increase, which benefited approximately 48 lakh central government employees and 68 lakh pensioners, increased the DA by 4 per cent to 38 per cent. Prior to this, the government increased the DA by percent to 34 per cent in March as part of the 7th Pay Commission.