7th Pay Commission Update: THESE 5 big changes will happen for central govt employees

Around 52 lakh central government employees and pensioners can expect to get good news in the coming days as the central government plans to take a final call on the hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) benefits. 

According to the current update, the employees will get their due DA and DR in September which has been further delayed from July.   Check out some of the major announcements by the Centre in the 7th pay commission pay matrix of a government employee and pensioners:

DA, DR restoration: According to the 7th Pay Commission guidelines, the central government employees and pensioners will get an increased DA and DR in the month of September. They were supposed to get the benefits from July 1, 2021.  Also, the government has been conducting meetings with the National Council of JCM – the recognized representative platform of the employees to take a final call on restoring the DA and the DR benefits.

House Building Advance (HBA) benefit: Under this scheme, a central government employee can get money at a simple interest rate of 7.9  percent to construct their own house. Keeping the 7th pay commission pay matrix and approval provisions in mind, the Centre, of late, made a revision in HBA guidelines which is available till March 31, 2022.

7th Pay Commission Pension Benefit Process: Taking note of the ghastly effects of the COVID pandemic, Dr. Jitendra Singh had informed that the Family Pension Rules have been simplified. Giving a brief about the important reforms undertaken by the Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare (DoP&PW) during the COVID-19 pandemic, Singh revealed about a provision that was recently made for the Provisional Family Pension which needs to be sanctioned immediately on receipt of the claim for Family Pension and Death Certificate from the eligible family member without waiting for other formalities or procedural requirements to be completed. This provision is applicable in case of death during the pandemic, either because of COVID or because of non-COVID cause.

New time limit for submission of Claims For Travelling Allowance after retirement: The central government has extended the time limit to submit TA from the earlier 60 to 180 days ahead of the Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) hike.

Pension slip through mail, SMS, and WhatsApp: The pensioners will no longer be asked to physically collect the pension slips as for their convenience, the central government has asked the banks to issue pension slips to the pensioners through SMS, Email, and WhatsApp on their registered contact details. The decision came into effect on July 1.