The Central Government revises the Dearness Allowance (DA) for its employees and pensioners twice a year, based on the consumer price index (CPI). The latest revision was set to happen for the period from January 2020 but due to the ongoing COVID-19 Corona Virus Pandemic, it has been put on hold, till July, 2021! This news comes as a great shock for all Central Government employees and its pensioners and will affect the incomes of 48 Lakh Central Government employees as well as 65 Lakh pensioners, along with the Railway employees and pensioners too. Based on this latest order, the additional DA installments would be frozen from January 1st, 2020 till July, 2021! These installments will also not be paid as arrears.

However, in some good news, the Government has announced that post July 2021, the calculation of the rate of DA and dearness relief for pensioners will include the revisions for the period from Jan 2020 to July 2021 and would be restored prospectively and subsumed in the cumulative revised rate effect from July 2021! It was just last month that the Central Government had announced an additional 4% DA and raised it from 17% to 21%, with effect from Jan 1st, 2020! Reports state that the Finance Ministry would be saving around Rs. 27,000 Crores with this DA increase freeze order, till March 2021! Stay tuned for further updates...