DA hike 2026: No festive relief yet for 1.2 crore employees and pensioners. When will Centre announce the 3% increase?
Central government employees and pensioners will have to wait longer for the much-anticipated dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) hike, with the Centre yet to announce the revision due from 1 July 2026.
The delay has prolonged uncertainty for nearly 1.2 crore employees and pensioners who were expecting a festive-season increase in their salaries and pensions. The anticipated 3-percentage-point hike could raise DA and DR from the existing 60% to 63%, although the government has not confirmed the revised rate.
The announcement was widely expected around Dussehra, with hopes of a decision on 21 October. However, no official announcement has been made, leaving employees awaiting clarity on when the increase will be approved and paid.
Why is the DA hike announcement taking longer?
The Centre generally revises DA and DR twice a year, with the changes taking effect from 1 January and 1 July. However, the announcement and payment of revised allowances can happen several months after these effective dates.
The last revision was approved by the Union Cabinet on 18 April 2026, when DA and DR were increased by two percentage points, from 58% to 60%, with effect from 1 January 2026.
According to the government’s official announcement, that increase benefited approximately 50.46 lakh central government employees and 68.27 lakh pensioners. The combined annual financial implication was estimated at ₹6,791.24 crore.
The July instalment remains pending despite the passage of more than three months since its usual effective date.
Employee organisations have also sought an early announcement. The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers previously urged the Finance Ministry to release the pending instalment, citing the inflation data used to determine the allowance.
The government has not officially specified a reason for the continuing delay or announced a date for the next revision.
When can employees expect the next DA hike?
With no official announcement on 21 October, attention has shifted to whether the Centre will approve the revision before Diwali on 8 November.
Past announcements suggest that the government does not follow a fixed date for declaring DA increases. The July 2025 revision, for example, was followed by a Department of Expenditure order dated 6 October 2025.
However, previous announcement patterns do not guarantee that the pending July 2026 instalment will be approved before Diwali.
Until the Cabinet announces its decision and the Finance Ministry issues the necessary orders, the DA and DR rates will remain at 60%.
For employees and pensioners, the key questions now are whether the anticipated three-percentage-point increase will be approved before Diwali and when the additional payments, including arrears, will reach their accounts.
