Summary of this article
NC-JCM (Staff Side) has urged the Cabinet Secretary to intervene over the delay in announcing the January 2026 DA and DR instalment.
The hike is normally declared in late March.
The delay has sparked discontent among central government employees and pensioners.
The government hasn’t yet announced the dearness allowance, and the employees’ and pensioners’ bodies are raising concerns. The National Council (Staff Side) of the Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) has recently written to the Cabinet Secretary, requesting intervention to resolve the matter.
In the letter dated April 13, 2026, Shiva Gopal Mishra, Secretary of NC-JCM (Staff Side), wrote, "So far, the DA/DR instalment due to the Central Government employee and pensioner w.e.f. January is declared during the last week of March every year. Unfortunately, this year so far the Government has not declared DA/DR due from 01.01.2026.”
Typically, the government announces a DA/DR hike twice a year: one around March (with a retroactive effective date of January 1 of that year) and another around October (with a retroactive effective date of July 1 of that year).
However, it has not yet been announced this year. The letter reads, “This has created discontentment and apprehensions amongst the Central Government employees & Pensioners.”
The letter sought urgent intervention by the cabinet secretary and announcement of DA/DR without further delaying the announcement.
A few days back, the confederation of central government employees and workers also raised the issue of the delay in DA/DR by sending a letter to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers would like to draw your kind attention towards the non-declaration of Due instalments of DA/DR w.e.f. 01.012026, normally it used to be declared in the last week of March and Arrears of the three months paid in the first week of April every year”, read the letter.
The Confederation asked for a personal intervention of the Minister and a declaration of an order in this regard.
At present, the DA rate is 58 per cent. The 3 per cent hike was announced in October 2025, with effect from July 1, 2025. DA hike is inflation-indexed, determined based on the 12-month average of the All India Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW). DR or dearness relief, which is for the pensioners, is also linked to the same index.
Here is the detail of the DA/DR hike over the last five years.
Historical DA/DR Rates
Payable Date Rate
1st July 2025 58 per cent
1st Jan 2025 55 per cent
1st July 2024 53 per cent
1st Jan 2024 50 per cent
1st July 2023 46 per cent
1st Jan 2023 42 per cent
1st July 2022 38 per cent
1st Jan 2022 34 per cent
1st July 2021 31 per cent
Source: Pensioner Portal
The employee and pensioners' bodies have also been demanding a merger of excess DA/DR (over 50 per cent) with the basic pay ahead of the 8th pay commission, which is preparing its recommendations. However, for now, they are pushing for an urgent announcement of the DA/DR hike.
