Govt freezes DA & DR of central employees & pensioners till July 2021

April 23: In a significant development, the Ministry of Finance issued a notification on Thursday afternoon freezing Dearness Allowance to its employees and Dearness Relief to pensioners at current rates till July 2021. The additional installments, due on January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021 will not be paid. However, DA and DR at current rates will continue to be paid.

It was further stated in the order thata as and when the decision to release the future installment of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief due from 1st July 2021 is taken by the Government, the rates of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief as effective from 1st January 2020, 1st July 2020 and 1st January 2021 will be restored prospectively and will be subsumed in the cumulative revised rate effective from 1st July 2021. No arrears for the period from 1st January 2020 till 30th June 2021 shall be paid.

The Union Cabinet had last month hiked the DA and DR by 4%, from 17% of basic pay/pension to 21% of basic pay/pension for central government employees and pensioners.