7th Pay Commission: Latest updates on HRA and minimum pay hike

The HRA that has been approved will be 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent of the new basic pay.

The Central Government employees can expect a big bonanza after the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission was cleared. It is almost certain that the minimum basic pay will be hiked to Rs 21,000.

What has confirmed this further is the fact that the government issued a clarification stating that the basic minimum pay has not been fixed at Rs 18,000, but can vary.

A bigger bonanza in the offing

While the news of a hike has not been officially communicated to the staff unions, the fact that the government said that the minimum pay can vary itself suggests that there is a bonanza in the offing.

HRA

The HRA that has been approved will be 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent of the new basic pay. The rate of HRA would be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent when the dearness allowance (DA) crosses 25 per cent, and further to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent when it crosses 50 per cent. The HRA revision will benefit more than 7.5 lakh employees. HRA constitutes 60 per cent of the total allowance of a government employee's pay.

DA

The government has decided the minimum floor rate of HRA for the lowest categories of employees. "The HRA will not be less than Rs 5,400, Rs 3,600 and Rs 1,800 depending on the type of city and calculated at 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent of minimum pay of Rs 18,000 (sic)," an official statement said.

Allowances under 7th Pay Commission

The government has said that 108 allowances have been retained against the 7th Pay Commission's recommendation for 95 allowances. Similarly, as against the recommendation to do away with 53 of the allowances, Centre has decided to abolish 43. Another 34 allowances have been subsumed and decisions with regard to 12 allowances relating to railways will be taken up later.

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