DA Update: Did Govt Hike DA by 4% for Employees? Know What it Has Said

DA Hike 7th Pay Commission: Amid news of an impending DA hike for central government employees, a news circulating on WhatsApp has been deemed fake by the Centre. The government has issued a clarification on a letter making rounds on the messaging platform, saying that DA has been hiked by 4 per cent by the authorities. It has said that ‘no such order has been issued.’ The fake letter claimed that Dearness Allowance for government employees has been increased from 34 per cent to 38 per cent with effect from July 1.

“A #Fake order circulating on #WhatsApp claiming that the additional instalment of Dearness Allowance will effective from 01.07.2022. Department of Expenditure has not issued any such order,” PIB Fact Check, the Union government’s official Twitter handle to bust misinformation has said on Thursday. The Department of Expenditure usually comes out with DA hike announcements.

“The President is pleased to decide that the Dearness Allowance payable to Central Government Employees shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 34 per cent to 38 per cent of the Basic Pay with effect from 1st July, 2022,” claims the fake letter that is being circulated on WhatsApp. The letter further states that the payment of arrears of Dearness Allowance will be disbursed along with the September 2022 salary.

The DA and DR are usually revised twice a year in January and July, based on the retail inflation data. However, the government has not yet announced any hike in DA for the second half of the year despite inflation has remained above the RBI’s upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent.

How Much DA is Expected to be Hiked?

According to a report by Zee News, the government may consider a DA hike of as much as 4 per cent in July. This means central government employees will get a DA of 38 per cent if the report is to be believed. The AICPI in January and February were 125.1 and 125, respectively, while in March it rose to 126. The AICPI in April increased to 127.7, due to the rising inflation. In May, there was a big jump of AICPI to 129. Now, if the AICPI remains to that level, DA hike of 4 per cent is likely. The CPI-based inflation in April stood at an eight-year high of 7.79 per cent. However, it cooled off to 7.01 per cent in June, and 6.71 per cent in July.

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