Days after hiking the dearness allowance (DA) by 3% of its employees, the Centre is now considering increasing the House Rent Allowance (HRA).
With the hike of 3%, the DA of the central employees has increased from 31 per cent to 34 per cent. This increased dearness allowance will be applicable from January 1, 2022.
According to reports, the central employees can expect a hike in HRA, which was hiked nearly a year ago in July 2021. If this happens, there will be a significant increase in the salary of the employees.
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HRA may increase by 3%
A present, central employees get HRA at the rate of 9 percent, 18 percent and 27 percent according to their categories. It is expected that the HRA can be increased by up to 3 per cent.
Employees in X category cities can increase their HRA by 3 percent, in Y category cities 2 percent in allowances and in Z category cities the HRA of employees can also increase by 1 percent.
Thereafter, the HRA rates will be 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent, depending on the categories. That is, the minimum HRA of central employees will be 10 percent.
How HRA is calculated?
It is noteworthy that HRA for central employees is fixed on the basis of the category of the city where they are posted.
These are divided into three categories X, Y and Z. HRA is being given to X category employees at the rate of 27% of their basic pay. Whereas the employees working in Y category cities are given HRA at the rate of 18 per cent.
Talking about Z category cities, HRA is available at the rate of 9 percent. This rate varies by region and city.
Fitment factor
The government can also take a big decision on the fitment factor of central employees, as per reports.
There has been a long-standing demand of central employees to increase their fitment factor from 2.57 per cent to 3.68 per cent.
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