It was a major relief for government employees and pensioners when DA and DR were increased to 50% in 2025. That is to say, half of your basic pay for serving government employees or basic pension for retired government employees will be paid as DA or DR now. It is a strong support against inflation and cost of living.
What Are DA and DR?
- DA is a part of the salary for serving government employees. It is provided to adjust the pay with respect to inflation.
- DR stands for Dearness Relief, which is an increase to the pension amount granted to pensioners.
- They are calculated as a percentage of the basic pay/pension and are revised frequently. At the current rate of 50%, all allowances attached to DA/DR are enhanced accordingly.
How To Calculate Your Revised Salary / Pension
The procedure is as follows:
- For serving employees: Take the basic pay. On this, add 50% as DA. Then, add other allowances that are not linked to DA.
For example: Basic pay= ₹30000 → DA = ₹15000, so basic+DA= ₹45000. Now other allowances like HRA, transport etcetera are added to that. - For pensioners: Basic pension + 50% DR + any other pension benefits.
Sample Figures for Clarity
To show you what these increases mean in real amounts:
- Employee with basic pay of ₹15,000 + non-DA allowances of ₹4,500: 50% DA (₹7,500) makes the gross to the tune of ₹27,000.
- One with basic pay of ₹40,000 + ₹10,000 allowances: DA of 50% adds ₹20,000, putting the gross to 70,000.
- Pensioner having basic pension of ₹12,000 plus other benefits of ₹2,000: DR 50% adds ₹6,000, gross going to ₹20,000.
- One, who has ₹25,000 as basic pension plus benefits of ₹3,500: DR adds ₹12,500 to make gross ₹41,000.
Effects On Pay Scales And Pension Schedules
With the increase, government departments shall issue revised pay matrices of employees, whilst also going into life with new pension schedules for retirees. Everything needs to be kept on watch when it comes to official notifications, so that you can spot your new pay or pension rates according to your pay scale or pension classification.
Things To Keep In Mind
- Only some allowances are linked to DA/DR. Some others are fixed and are not subject to change.
- There might be some administrative delay before these new rates manifest in your salary/pension slip. Stay vigilant.
- The increased gross salary could add to your tax liability or slightly higher tax slab. Hence plan it well.
What You Should Do Now
- Check your payslip/pension slip for basic pay/pension and allowances.
- Basic 50 percent DA/DR other allowances/benefits must be used to arrive at a rough estimate of the new income.
- Await official communications from your respective office/department/pension authority.
- In the event discrepancies are noticed when updates are executed, get in touch with your payroll/pension office.
Also Read:EPFO Big Decision 2025: Modern Banking Facilities And Higher Pension Likely
