DA hike in October: How much will your salary increase?
Central government employees are keeping their fingers crossed for an announcement about a dearness allowance (DA) hike, that could give their salaries a nice little boost. The Centre is likely to drop this news in October, but an official statement is still pending. If you remember, a similar increase was announced in the first week of October last year.
Expected DA hike and its impact on salaries
The government might just surprise us with a 3-4% DA hike before Diwali in October. So, if you're an entry-level employee raking in around ₹18,000 a month, you could be looking at a bump of anywhere between ₹540 to ₹720 per month, effective from July 1, 2024. And if you're earning ₹30,000 a month, with a basic pay of ₹18,000, you'll benefit the same way from this expected DA hike.
How is the DA hike determined?
The DA and dearness relief (DR) hikes are worked out based on the percentage increase in the 12-month average, of the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI) for the period ending June 2022. The central government updates these allowances twice a year — on January 1 and July 1 — usually announcing them in March and September. The formula for calculating DA and DR was changed by the government way back in 2006.
What's the status of the 8th Pay Commission?
Pay commissions usually pop up every decade, but there's no hard and fast rule saying it has to happen exactly every 10 years. The 7th Pay Commission got rolling in February 2014, and its suggestions were put into action starting January 1, 2016. So, by the end of next year, it will have been a whole decade since these changes came into play.
