7th Pay Commission: List of 34 allowances approved by the government with modifications

Here is the list of allowances recommended by the Seventh Central Pay Commission (7 th CPC) along with modifications as approved by the central government.

New Delhi: The resolution conveying the central government's decision on recommendations of the CPC on allowances was published in Gazette of India on July 6

Based on the report of Committee on Allowances (CoA) and the recommendation of E-CoS, the Cabinet had earlier approved the modifications in 34 allowances in its meeting held on 28th June, which will mean an additional annual burden of Rs 30,748 crore on the exchequer.

All allowances are given effect from 1st July 2017.  It will benefit 34 lakh civilian employees and 14 lakh defence personnel.

"The ministries concerned have now been advised to issue their Orders on Allowances governed by them immediately so that the revised rates of allowances get reflected in the current month's salary bills of the government employees," the finance ministry said in a statement.

7th Pay Commission on allowances: Here is the full Notification

The Seventh Central Pay Commission (the Commission) was set up by the Government of India vide Resolution No. 1/1/2013-E. III (A), dated the 28 th February, 2014. The period for submission of report by the Commission was extended upto 31st December, 2015 vide Resolution No. 1/1/2013-E.III (A), dated the 8th September, 2015. The Commission, on 19th November, 2015, submitted its Report on the matters covered in its Terms of Reference as specified in the aforesaid Resolution dated the 28th February, 2014.

2. The Government, vide Para 7 of the Resolution No . 1-2/2016- IC, dated 25th July, 2016, decided to refer the allowances (except Dearness Allowance) to the Committee on Allowances (the Committee). It was also decided that till a final decision on allowances is taken based on the recommendations of the Committee, all allowances will continue to be paid at existing rates in existing pay structure, as if the pay had not been revised with effect from 1st day of January, 2016.

3. The said Committee submitted its Report on 27 th April, 2017. The Government, after consideration, has decided to accept the recommendations of the Commission on allowances with 34 modifications as specified in Appendix I. The Statement showing the recommendations of the Commission on allowances and the Government’s decision thereon is annexed at Appendix II

4. Some of the allowances paid to the Indian Navy which are also paid to the Indian Coast Guard at present have not been mentioned in the Report of the Commission. The Government has decided that these allowances which are admissible to the Indian Navy shall also be paid to the Indian Coast Guard at par with the Indian Navy.

5. The rates in respect of 12 running allowances relating to the Ministry of Railways shall be notified by the Ministry of Railways with the concurrence of the Ministry of Finance.

6. The revised rates of allowances shall be admissible with effect from the 1st July, 2017.

List of allowances recommended by the Seventh Central Pay Commission (7 th CPC) along with modifications as approved by the Government of India

Name of the Allowance		Recommendations of the 7th CPC	Modifications accepted by the Government
1	Antarctica Allowance	Retained. Rationalised. To be paid at Rs 31500 for Level 9 and above and Rs 21000 for Level 8 and below as per Cell RH-Max of the newly proposed Risk and Hardship Matrix	To be kept out of Risk and Hardship Matrix and to be paid on per day basis. Rates revised from Rs 1125 per day to Rs 1500 per day and from Rs 1688 per day to Rs 2000 per day in Summer and Winter respectively. Team Leader to get 10% extra @ Rs 1650 per day and Rs 2200 per day in Summer and Winter respectively
2	Breakdown Allowance	Abolished	Retained. Existing Rates multiplied by 2.25. Rates revised from Rs 120 –300 per month to Rs 270 – 675 per month
3	Cash Handling Allowance	Abolished	Subsumed in Cash Handling and Treasury Allowance.
4	Coal Pilot Allowance	Abolished	Retained. Existing rates multiplied by 2.25. Rates revised from Rs 45 per trip to Rs 102 for first trip and from Rs 15 per trip to Rs 34 for every subsequent trip.
5	Cycle Allowance	Abolished	Retained. Existing rates of Rs 90 per month doubled to Rs 180 per month for Department of Posts and Railways. To be retained in other Ministries/Departments where there is functional justification for any particular category of staff with the approval of Department of Expenditure.
6	Daily Allowance	Retained. Rationalized All provisions will apply to Railways personnel also.	Travelling Charges for Level -12 – 13 revised from ‘Non-AC Taxi charges up to 50 km to ‘AC taxi charges upto 50 Kms.’ and for level 14 and above to be revised from ‘AC Taxi charges up to 50 km’ to ‘AC taxi charges as per actual expenditure commensurate with official engagements’. Existing system of Daily allowance in the Ministry of Railways to continue.
7	Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA	Retained. Status Quo to be maintained	Existing rate of Rs 500 per month revised to Rs 1000 per month.
8	Fixed Monetary Compensation	Abolished as a separate allowance. Eligible employees to be governed by the newly proposed “Additional Post Allowance”	Not to be subsumed and retained as a separate allowance. Existing rates multiplied by 2.25. Rates revised from Rs 50 to Rs 115 for full beat and from Rs 24 to Rs 54 for sharing a beat.
9	Funeral Allowance	Abolished	Retained with change in nomenclature as ‘Funeral Expense’. Existing rate multiplied by 1.5. Rates revised from Rs 6000 to Rs 9000.
10	Holiday Compensatory Allowanc	Abolished as a separate allowance. Eligible employees to be governed by National Holiday Allowance	Not to be subsumed and retained as a separate allowance. Existing system to continue in Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)
11	Hospital Patient Care Allowance (HPCA)/Patient Care Allowance (PCA)	Retained. Rationalised. To be paid as per Cell R1H3 of the newly proposed Risk and Hardship Matrix. HPCA and PCA are admissible to ministerial staff as well on the premise that the entire hospital area carries the risk of communicable diseases. This practice should be stopped and HPCA/PCA should be admissible to only those employees who come in continuous and routine contact with the patients.	Ministerial Staff to continue to get HPCA/PCA as per R1H3 ( Rs 4100 for level 8 and below and Rs 5300 for level 9 and above) of Risk and Hardship Matrix
12	House Rent Allowance (HRA)	Retained. Rationalized by a factor of 0.8	The recommendations of the 7th CPC is accepted with the following modifications: (ii) HRA shall not be less than Rs 5,400 per month, Rs 3,600 per month and Rs 1,800 per month calculated @30% of minimum pay for X (population of 50 lakh & above), 20% for Y (5 to 50 lakh) and 10% for Z (below 5 lakh) category of cities. (ii) HRA shall be revised to 27%, 18% & 9% of Basic Pay in X,Y & Z cities when Dearness Allowance (DA) crosses 25% and further to 30%, 20% and 10% of Basic Pay in X, Y & Z cities when DA crosses 50%.
13	Kit Maintenance Allowance	Abolished as a separate allowance. Subsumed in the newly proposed Dress Allowance	Subsumed in Dress Allowance for Special Protection Group (SPG) and factored in for determining the revised rates of Dress Allowance for SPG.
14	Launch Campaign Allowance	Abolished	Retained. Existing rate multiplied by 1.5. Rates revised from Rs 7500 per annum to Rs 11250 per annum.
15	Nursing Allowance	Retained. Rationalized	Existing rates multiplied by 1.5. Rates revised from Rs 4800 per month to Rs 7200 per month.
16	Operation Theatre Allowance	Abolished	Retained. Existing rate multiplied by 1.5. Rates revised from Rs 360 per month to Rs 540 per month.
17	Overtime Allowance (OTA)	Abolished except for operational staff and industrial employees governed by statutory provisions	Ministries/Departments to prepare a list of those staff coming under the category of ‘operational staff’. Rates of Overtime Allowance not to be revised upwards.
18	Professional Update Allowance	Retained. Enhanced by 50%. Extended to some more categories	This allowance to continue to be paid to non- gazetted staff of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Existing rate multiplied by 1.5. Rates revised from Rs 7500 per annum to Rs 11250 per annum.
19	Qualification Grant	Abolished as a separate allowance. Eligible employees to be governed by the newly proposed Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence Personnel. Tier-II of the Technical Allowance as well as the Qualification Grant will be merged into Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence Personnel	7th CPC recommendations accepted with the modifications that: (i) This will not include Tier – II courses, and (ii) Courses will be reviewed by associating experts, including outside professionals and academicians by 31.12.2017.
20	Ration Money Allowance (RMA)	Retained. Rationalized. Provision of free rations and the grant of Ration Money Allowance to officers of Defence forces posted in peace areas should be withdrawn	Provision of free ration for officers of Defence Forces shall be discontinued in peace areas. RMA shall continue to be paid to officers of Defence Forces posted in peace areas. The cash shall be credited directly into the bank accounts of officers.
21	Risk Allowance	Abolished	Retained. Existing rate multiplied by 2.25. Rates revised from Rs 60 per month to Rs 135 per month
22	Siachen Allowance	Retained. Rationalised. To be paid at Rs 31500 for Level 9 and above and below as per Cell RH-Max of the newly proposed Risk and Hardship Matrix. Rs 21000 for Level 8 and	Rates revised from: Rs 31500 to Rs 42500 per month for Level 9 and above, and Rs 21000 per month to Rs 30000 per month for level 8 and below
23	Space Technology Allowance	Abolished	Retained. Existing rate to be multiplied by 1.5. Rates revised from Rs 7500 per annum to Rs 11250 per annum
24	Special Appointment Allowance	Abolished as a separate allowance. Eligible employees to be governed by the newly proposed “Extra Work Allowance". Granted to Central Armed Police Force Personnel holding special appointments	To include Assistant Sub Inspector (Radio Mechanic), Assistant Sub Inspector (Radio Operator) and Sub Inspector (Radio Mechanic) in the list eligible for Extra Work Allowance @2% of Basic Pay per month with the conditions recommended by the 7 th CPC.
25	Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance (SCRLA)	Abolished as a separate allowance. Eligible employees to be governed by the newly proposed Tough Location Allowance (TLA) -I, II or III. Tough Location Allowance will not be admissible along with Special Duty Allowance.	7th CPC recommendations that Tough Location Allowance (TLA) will not be admissible along with Special Duty Allowance (SDA) accepted subject to condition that employees be given the additional option to avail of the benefit of Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance (SCRLA) at pre-revised rates under the 6th CPC regime along with SDA at revised rates of 7th CPC
26	Special Duty Allowance (SDA)	Retained. Rationalized by a factor of 0.8. SDA for All India Service (AIS) officers should be paid at the rate of 30 percent of Basic Pay and for other civilian employees at the rate of 10 percent of Basic Pay.	As per DoPT’s OM No. 14017/4/2005-AIS (II) dated 10 th February, 2009, ‘Special Allowance for Officers belonging to North – East Cadres of All India Service (AIS) officers’ is granted @25%. Special Duty Allowance (SDA) is granted @12.5%. Rationalized by a factor of 0.8. Both these allowances namely ‘Special Allowance for Officers belonging to North – East Cadres of AIS’ and Special Duty Allowance (SDA shall continue to be paid separately as at present at the revised rates of 20% and 10% respectively.
27	Special Incident/Investigation/Security Allowance	Retained. Rationalized by a factor of 0.8. Department of Revenue should assess the risk profile of the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at various levels and thereafter make a case to Ministry of Finance for grant of Risk and Hardship Allowance, if any, as per appropriate cell.	This allowance was granted to Enforcement Directorate as an ad – hoc measure with the approval of Department of Expenditure pending recommendations of the 7th CPC. Accordingly, this allowance to be withdrawn from ED with effect from 01.07.2017. As per recommendations of the 7th CPC, Department of Revenue to examine proposal or Risk & Hardship allowance for ED to make a case to Ministry of Finance for granting Risk and Hardship based allowance to ED officials, if any.
28	Special Running Staff Allowance	Retained. Extended to some more categories	Name of the allowance to continue as ‘Additional Allowance’.
29	Technical Allowance	Tier-I of the Technical Allowance will continue to be paid on a monthly basis. Tier-II of the Technical Allowance as well as the Qualification Grant will be merged into Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence Personnel	Existing system of Technical Allowance (Tier – I and II) to continue at Rs 3000 per month and Rs 4500 per month up to 31.03.2018. Courses of Technical Allowance (Tier –I and II along with Qualification Grant (Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence Personnel) to be reviewed by associating experts, outside professionals and academicians in order to keep pace with changing defence requirements. Review of Courses to be completed before 31.12.2017. Technical Allowance (Tier – II) to continue beyond 31.03.2018 only after review of courses.
30	Training Allowance	Retained. Rationalized by a factor of 0.8. Extended to some more categories. The allowance will be payable to an eligible employee for a maximum period of five years only during the entire career.	Ceiling of 5 years period to be removed. Standard cooling off period between tenures will apply.
31	Travelling Allowance	Retained. Rationalized. Indian Railways to reconsider its position regarding air travel to its employees.	Level 6 to 8 of Pay Matrix to be entitled for Air travel. Level 5 A of Defence Forces to be clubbed with Level 6 for travelling entitlements. Existing system to continue in Ministry of Railways.
32	Treasury Allowance	Abolished	Subsumed in Cash Handling and Treasury Allowance.
33	Uniform Allowance	Abolished as a separate allowance. Subsumed in the newly proposed Dress Allowance and to be paid annually.
34	Washing Allowance	Abolished as a separate allowance. Subsumed in the newly proposed Dress Allowance	Subsumed in Dress Allowance in respect of Nurses and factored in for determining the revised rates of Dress Allowance for Nurses.