The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions announced an increase in dearness relief for pensioners, effective from July 1, 2024, covering various categories such as civilian, armed forces, railway, and provisional pensioners, with arrears to be paid from October 2024.
7th Pay Commission DA Hike for Pensioners: The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions has released an office memorandum outlining the details of dearness relief arrears, the categories of pensioners covered, and other important information.
Effective from July 1, 2024, the dearness relief rate was increased from 50% to 53% of the basic pension or family pension.
Which categories of pensioners are covered?
Civilian Pensioners: This includes pensioners from the Central Government, as well as pensioners from PSUs and Autonomous Bodies, as per previous orders.
Armed Forces Pensioners: Including those paid under the Defence Service Estimates.
All India Service Pensioners: Pensioners from various all India services will also benefit from this hike.
Railway Pensioners: Family pensioners and retirees from the railway sector are included.
Provisional Pensioners: Those receiving provisional pensions will also see this increase.
Burma Civilian Pensioners: Pensioners from Burma and displaced government pensioners from Pakistan will receive the revised DR.
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The memorandum also specifies that the payment deadline of arrears for the DR increase as October 2024, when the pension/family pension is disbursed. Additionally, any fractional amounts of DR will be rounded off to the next higher rupee.
Pension disbursing authorities, including nationalized banks, will be responsible for calculating the exact DR amount for each individual pensioner. The new rates apply across the board, but certain provisions like those for re-employed pensioners or pensioners receiving more than one pension will remain unchanged, the OM said.
In the case of retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, separate orders will be issued by the Department of Justice.
This DR increase comes in line with the Ministry of Finance’s approval and has been issued in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
