DR Hike: The government offers dearness relief (DR) to pensioners to help them deal with the rising inflation. The DR for pensioners matches the dearness allowance (DA) that government employees receive and is updated twice a year. Right now, the DR stands at 58%. However, the 7th Pay Commission’s term officially wraps up on December 31, 2025, and the next DR hike is set for January 2026. So, what’s going to happen with the DR increases for pensioners? Will it drop to zero? Will it stop going up, or will the government keep raising it as per the current rules?
Will the DR for pensioners keep increasing after the 7th Pay Commission’s term ends?
A former central government employee, who is now the secretary of a well-known employees’ and pensioners’ association, mentioned that the DR for pensioners does keep increasing even after the Pay Commission’s term is over. He pointed out that DA for employees also rises after the Pay Commission’s term ends, and the same goes for DR for pensioners. So, it will be adjusted twice a year until the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission are put into action. In the past, when the implementation of the Pay Commission’s recommendations was delayed, the DR increased alongside the DA.
When does the government raise DR?
The government raises DR two times a year, in January and July. However, typically, the government doesn’t announce increases during these months. They usually make announcements before festivals like Holi and Diwali. In those cases, pensioners get their arrears retroactively.
How does DR impact a pensioner’s pension?
DR is calculated based on the pensioner’s basic pension. For instance, if the basic pension is Rs 25,000 and the current DR rate is 58%, the total pension for the pensioner will be Rs 25,000 + (58% of Rs 25,000) = Rs 39,500. Now, if the government decides to bump up the DR by 2% in January 2026, raising it to 60%, the total pension (for the same pensioner) will rise to Rs 40,000.
How many pensioners are there in the Central Government?
According to information provided by the Finance Ministry in Parliament earlier this month, the total number of central government pensioners is 6.9 million, which is more than the number of government employees (5.014 million). The minimum pension is Rs 9,000, while the maximum is Rs 1,25,000. In the 7th Pay Commission, pensions were revised based on a fitment factor of 2.57. The minimum pension increased from Rs 3,500 to Rs 9,000 in the 6th Pay Commission, while the maximum pension increased from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1,25,000 in the 6th CPC.
How can pension increase in the 8th Pay Commission?
If the government decides to increase it through the fitment factor, assuming the fitment factor is 2.0, then the minimum basic pension can increase to Rs 18,000 and the maximum to Rs 2,50,000.