7th pay commission HRA update: The House Rent Allowance (HRA) guidelines for central government employees have been amended by the Finance Ministry’s Department of Expenditure. According to the recent update, some central government employees would no longer be eligible for HRA.
HRA is acceptable in reference to the ‘site of duty’ of government employees, according to the HRA rules.
The Department of Expenditure within the Finance Ministry has modified the HRA regulations for central government employees. Some central government employees would no longer be qualified for HRA, according to the most recent update.
The HRA regulations provide that HRA is permissible in relation to the "place of duty" of government employees.
Specific caes in which employee will not receive HRA:
(i) He/she shares government-provided housing with another government employee; or
(ii) He/she lives in housing provided by the federal government, state government, an autonomous public undertaking or semi-government organisation such as a municipality, port trust, nationalised banks, Life Insurance Corporation of India, and so on; or
(iii) The central government employee has been assigned housing at the same station by the central government/state government/autonomous public undertaking/semi-government organisation, whether he/she resides in that housing or separately in housing rented by him/her.
“Government servants other than a government servant who is living in a house owned by him shall be eligible for HRA even if they share government accommodation allotted to other government servants…subject to the condition that they pay rent or contribute towards rent or house or property tax but without regard to the amount actually paid or contributed,” according to the rules.
(7th pay commission HRA update) HRA Divisions
HRA is intended for paid people who live in rental housing. It is separated into three sections: X, Y, and Z.
(i) ‘X’ denotes places with a population of 50 lakh or more. According to the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, HRA is set at 24%.
(ii) ‘Y’ denotes regions with populations ranging from 5 to 50 lakh. It is supplied at a rate of 16%.
(iii) ‘Z’ is assigned to areas with a population of less than 5 lakh. It is granted at a rate of 8%.
According to the Department of Expenditure’s memorandum, “the rates of HRA will be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent, 9 per cent for X, Y & Z class cities, respectively, when dearness allowance (DA) crosses 25 per cent and further revised to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent when DA crosses 50 per cent.
Meanwhile, lakhs of central government employees under the 7th Pay Commission are waiting for their 18-month dearness allowance or DA arrears. The finance ministry recently issued a statement and said it was done to ease pressure on government finances amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Various media reports have said the Centre is likely to address the issue of 18-month DA arrears soon.
The rates of HRA will be changed to 27 percent, 18 percent, and 9 percent for cities in the X, Y, and Z classes, respectively, when the dearness allowance (DA) surpasses 25 percent. They will also be revised to 30 percent, 20 percent, and 10 percent when the DA crosses 50 percent.
In the meantime, the 18-month arrears of dearness allowance (DA) for thousands of central government employees under the 7th Pay Commission are still outstanding. The COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on government budgets, according to a recent statement from the finance minister. According to a number of media reports, the Centre is probably going to deal with the 18-month DA arrears issue soon.
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