7th pay commission: Central government pensioners ALERT! Govt clarifies Dearness Relief calculation method

7th Pay Commission Pension News: The Central government hiked Dearness Relief by four per cent along with the Dearness Allowance in September bringing much-awaited festive joy for the central government employees and pensioners. However, there have been issues related to the calculation and payment of the Dearness Relief paid to the central government pensioners. Now, the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has come out with a clarification concerning Dearness Relief (DR) paid under the 7th Pay Commission rule.

The DoPPW said that DR will be payable on the original basic pension before commutation with regard to the former central government employees. The department said in a notice that it received references/representations seeking clarification on whether the 'Dearness Relief is payable on the original basic pension or pension as reduced after commutation'.

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In an office memorandum issued on October 25, the DoPPW said, "It is clarified that dearness relief is payable on the original basic pension before commutation or such basic pension before commutation as revised on implementation of recommendations of Pay Commission etc. and not on the pension as reduced after deduction of commuted pension.”

It said that under Rule 52 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021, 'Dearness Relief on Pension and Family Pension against price rise is granted to Pensioners including the persons drawing compassionate allowance under Rule 41 and Family Pensioners at such rates and subject to such conditions as the Central Government may specify from time to time'. The payment is made half-yearly.

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After the recent hike in September, the current DR rate for central government pensioners stands at 38 per cent as per the 7th pay commission.

When the government says 'Basic Pay', it refers to the salary drawn as per the applicable new structure or level in the Pay Matrix under the 7th Pay Commission.

It may be recalled that there are as on March 31, 2021, there were a total of 68,62,465 pensioners that includes 11,06,000 civil pensioners, 34,10,567 defence pensioners, 4,67,751 telecom pensioners, 15,54,585 railway pensioners and 3,23,562 postal pensioners.