7th Pay Commission latest news today: DA hike, DR benefit, arrears, ease in LTC — updates that central government employees just cannot miss

7th Pay Commission latest news today: As around 52 lakh central government employees are waiting for the announcement of their Dearness Allowance (DA) hike, the government at the Centre has decided to allow all 7th Pay Commission (7th CPC) beneficiary employees in the central and the state government to claim their new insurance policy premium in the LTC Scheme. Since DA hike is directly related to around 58 lakh central government retired pensioners' Dearness Relief (DR), they are also anxiously waiting for the DA announcement for January to June 2021 period. Here we list out the net impact on the central government employees' salary and pension of the retired central government servants.

Seventh Pay Commission Allowance: Ease in LTC rules
Earlier, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Government had declared relaxation in Leave Travel concession (LTC) Scheme allowing the central government employees to claim income tax benefits on expenses made between October 12, 2020 to March 31, 2021 on purchase of goods and services that attract GST rate of 12 per cent or more instead of travel expenses.

New Life Insurance policy inducted in LTC scheme
The Centre has also included life insurance in the LTC Scheme among the services mentioned earlier in the DoPT's Office Memorandum (OM).

DA Hike that central government employees are expecting
As the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI) data is out, Prayagraj-based Harishankar Tiwari of AG Brotherhood said that there is no chance of Centre announcing more than 4 per cent DA for the central government employees as the December 2020 AICPI number is 342 means the average AICPI for the entire 2020 as year stands at 335. That means the December 2020 AICP has gone down by 3 points leading to 4 (3+1) per cent DA hike for the central government employees.

DA restoration
Media is buzz with center may announce DA restoration while announcing the DA hike due since January 2021. If that happens, then the existing 17 DA of a central government employee will suddenly zoom at 25 per cent (17 + 4 + 4).

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7th CPC Salary hike, arrears
Once the DA restoration is announced, central government employees will witness a steep rise in their monthly salary as their existing DA will shoot up by 8 per cent leading to rise in their Travel Allowance (TA) with same percentage points. Apart from this, due to the freeze in DA since July 2020, central government employees are also expecting the arrears post-DA restoration. However, the central government is yet to make any such announcement in this regard.
7th Pay Commission DR benefit
As DA is directly linked to DR benefit being given to around 58 lakh central government pensioners. The DA restoration will lead to rise in the monthly pension of the retired central government employees too.