The government increases the DR for pensioners twice a year, in January and July.
Published: December 13, 2025 11:35 PM IST
New Delhi: Talking about the Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners, which is equivalent to the Dearness Allowance (DA) given to government employees, currently, it is 58%. However, the term of the 7th Pay Commission is ending on December 31, 2025, and the next increase in DR is due in January 2026. This raises the questions: What will happen to the increase in DR for pensioners? Will the DR become zero? Will it stop increasing, or will the government continue to increase it according to the existing rules? Will the DR for pensioners continue to increase even after the end of the 7th Pay Commission?
Does The DR For Pensioners Continue To Increase?
An expert from the field explains that historically, the DR for pensioners continues to increase even after the term of a Pay Commission ends. He says, “Just as the DA for employees increases after the term of a Pay Commission ends, the DR for pensioners also increases. Therefore, it will be increased twice a year until the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission are implemented. In the past, even when there was a delay in implementing the recommendations of the Pay Commission, the DR increased along with the DA.”
How Is The DR Increased Currently?
The government increases the DR for pensioners twice a year, in January and July. However, in most cases, the government does not announce the increase in these two months. It announces it before festivals like Holi and Diwali. In such a situation, pensioners receive arrears (backdated payment).
The DR is calculated based on the pensioner’s basic pension. For example, if someone’s basic pension is Rs 25,000 and the current DR rate is 58%, then the pensioner’s total pension will be Rs 25,000 + (58% of Rs 25,000) = Rs 39,500. Now, if the government increases the DA by 2% to 60% in January 2026, the total pension of the same pensioner will become Rs 40,000.
How Many Times Can The DA Be Increased Before The 8th Pay Commission?
If the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission are to be implemented in November 2025, two years after the approval of its terms of reference, then we can see the DA increasing four times, which could be as follows: January 2026, July 2026, January 2027, and July 2027.
Under the 7th Pay Commission, the minimum pension is Rs 9,000, while the maximum pension is Rs 1,25,000. Pensions under the 7th Pay Commission were revised based on a fitment factor of 2.57. The minimum pension increased from Rs 3,500 under the 6th Pay Commission to Rs 9,000, while the maximum pension increased from Rs 45,000 under the 6th Pay Commission to Rs 1,25,000.
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