Along with the basic salary of lakhs of central government employees, their dearness allowance (DA) has been increased by 31 percent under the 7th pay commission.
Along with this, the House Rent Allowance (HRA) of Central Government employees has also been increased. The September salary of central government employees will now come with double bonus. It is worth noting that according to the rules, HRA has been increased because DA has exceeded 25 percent. Therefore, the central government has also decided to increase the HRA to 27 percent.
However, now 11 lakh employees are now demanding payment of HRA arrears. The Finance Ministry has started brainstorming on the demand to implement House Rent Allowance (HRA) of more than 11.56 lakh employees from January 1, 2021. If this is approved, then along with getting the arrears, the HRA of lakhs of employees will also increase. They will get a profit of around Rs 5400 to Rs 8100 per month.
Actually this proposal has also been sent to the Railway Board for approval. Indian Railway Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) and National Federation of Railwaymen (NFIR) have demanded the implementation of HRA from January 1, 2021. Harishankar Tiwari, former chairman of the AG Office Brotherhood and general secretary of the All India Accounts and Audit Committee, mentioned that the Seventh Pay Commission, in its recommendation, had proposed that when the DA exceeds 25 per cent, the HRA will also increase. Its rate will increase from 8, 16, 24 percent to 9, 18 and 27 percent.
Further, according to him, the increase in Dearness Allowance will increase his House Rent Allowance (HRA) and Transport Allowance (TA). According to the pay matrix of the Seventh Pay Commission, there will be a different increase in the salary of each level employee. Also, Tiwari said that if someone’s basic salary is Rs 30000, then he will get a benefit of about Rs 5400 to Rs 8100 per month. The minimum amount of HRA has been fixed at Rs 5400 per month, which cannot be less than this.
House Rent Allowance is the salary component paid by the employer to the employees for the accommodation cost of living in that city. Employers decide the HRA amount to be paid based on criteria like salary structure, salary amount and city of residence. As a taxpayer, an employee can claim tax benefits on the amount paid as rent for accommodation each year.
