7th pay Commission HRA Hike: Reports suggest that the Central government employees will get DA hike and HRA hike this year which will increase their salary to significant amount.
7th Pay Commission: New Year 2024 seems to be bringing good news for the Central government employees. If reports are to be believed, these government employees are likely to get two benefits this year – DA hike and increase in HRA. The Centre is likely to increase the dearness allowance (DA) by 4 to 5per cent this year and If the same happens, DA will reach 50per cent and in this scenario, the Centre is also likely to hike the House Rent Allowance, a report by Jagran.com said. If this year, the Centre hikes the DA and HRA, then they will get descent hike in their salary.
How HRA Differs From City to City
It should be noted that the employees who live in a rented house get the benefit of HRA and the amount of HRA differs from city to city.
For example, the employees who live in tier-1 cities would get more HRA than an employee who lives in tier-II or tier-III Cities.
How Much DA to be Hiked?
The government employees who are working under the Central government are now getting the dearness allowance at the rate of 46%. The DA hike, if implemented, will be in effect from January 2024 and it is expected to be announced before Holi.
In general, the DA rate is revised twice a year — in January and July — based on the half-yearly data of the AICPI index. Significantly, a total of 8% DA was increased in 2023. Currently, the Central govt employees are expecting a 4% or more hike in Dearness allowance.
Check City-wise Category For HRA
The Central government employees get HRA as per the city they live in. Based on the city category, the HRA is divided into 3 categories — X, Y and Z.
The city with ‘X’ category includes areas with a population of 50 lakh and more and employees in this city category get 24per cent HRA as per the recommendation of the Central Pay Commission (CPC) under the 7th Pay Commission. The city with population between 5 lakh to 50 lakh come under the ‘Y’ category and the employees living in this city category get 16 per cent HRA of the basic salary. And the ‘Z’ city category includes those employees whose population is less than 5 lakh and the employees get 8 per cent HRA hike in this category.