Summary of this article
The 5th Pay Commission has increased to 474 per cent, effective July 1, 2025.
The DA for under the 6th Pay Commission has been revised to 257 per cent.
Under the 7th Pay Commission employees and pensioners will get a 3 per cent hike.
The Centre has increased the dearness allowance (DA) for government employees and pensioners by up to 8 per cent under the 5th Pay Commission for July-September 2025. The Union Ministry of Finance, in a recent order, said that the rate of dearness allowance for employees who continue to draw their pay from the pre-revised scale of the 5th Central Pay Commission has been increased to 474 per cent from the existing rate of 466 per cent of the basic pay, effective July 1, 2025.
This announcement came about a week after the Centre revised the DA for central government employees and pensioners covered under the 7th Pay Commission.
DA refers to the cost-of-living adjustment paid to employees to offset the impact of inflation and rising prices for goods and services. Its main goal is to protect employees’ purchasing power by keeping pace with increasing inflation, thereby matching their salaries.
DA Hike For 5th And 6th Pay Commissions
The 5th Pay Commission ended in 2005 and it was followed by the 6th Pay Commission which ended in 2015. Incidentally, a large number of government pensioners are still drawing their pay under the 5th and 6th pay commissions as the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission was not extended to them. Accordingly, the government decided to revise the DA for such employees. The DA for employees drawing their salary under the 6th Pay Commission has been revised from 252 per cent to 257 per cent, effective July 1, 2025.
Who All Are Still Covered Under The 5th And 6th Pay Commission
There are several employees who are covered by the 5th and the 6th pay commissions because the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission were not extended to them. These include employees of certain organisations like the central autonomous bodies and central public sector enterprises. These organisations still have different pay structures that are in accordance with the pay scales of the previous pay commissions.
Da Hike For Employees Under 7th Pay Commission
The Centre last week announced the increase in DA under the 7th Pay Commission. Over 10 million serving employees and pensioners will get a 3 per cent hike in DA, up from 55 per cent to 58 per cent of basic pay as allowance.
The employees and pensioners are waiting for a formal notification of the 8th Pay Commission and the appointment of its panel members. If the government is satisfied with the recommendations by the panel members, the suggestions will be formally implemented.
