edited by: Mohammad Haris
Last Update: Jan 07, 2023, 10:35 AM IST
House Rent Allowance is for salaried individuals who live in rented accommodation.
HRA is admissible with reference to the ‘place of duty’ of the Government servant, whether the Government servant is residing at that place or any other place
The Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance has updated the House Rent Allowance (HRA) rules for central government employees. 7th Pay Commission and that they would not be entitled to HRA in certain cases.
As per HRA rules, House Rent Allowance is admissible with reference to the ‘place of duty’ of the Government servant, whether the Government servant is residing at that place or any other place.
Cases where a Government servant will not be eligible for HRA:
(i) he/she shares the Government accommodation allotted to any other Government servant; either
(ii) He/she lives in a residence allotted to his/her parent/son/daughter by the Central Government, State Government, an Autonomous Public Sector Undertaking or a Semi-Government Organization such as Municipality, Port Trust, Nationalized Banks, Life Insurance Corporation. of India, etc.; either
(iii) his/her spouse has been allotted accommodation at the same station by the Central Government/State Government/Autonomous Public Sector Undertaking/Semi-Government Organization like Municipality, Port Trust etc., whether he/she resides in that accommodation or Lives separately in rented accommodation.
However, as per the rules, “Government servants other than Government servants who are living in a house owned by them shall be eligible for HRA even if they share Government accommodation allotted to other Government servants… subject to the condition subject to the fact that they pay rent or contribute towards rent or house or property tax but without reference to the amount actually paid or contributed.”
House Rent Allowance is for salaried individuals who live in rented houses, and is meant for housing related expenses. It is divided into three categories- X, Y and Z.
(i) ‘X’ stands for areas with a population of 50 lakhs and above. HRA is given at 24 per cent as recommended by the Seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC).
(ii) ‘Y’ is for areas with population between 5 lakh to 50 lakh. It is given at 16 per cent.
(iii) ‘Z’ is given when the population is less than 5 lakhs. It is given at 8 per cent.
According to the expenditure department’s memorandum, “HRA rates will be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent, 9 per cent for X, Y and Z category cities, respectively, if Dearness Allowance (DA) exceeds 25 per cent.” When DA exceeds 50 per cent, it is revised to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent.
Meanwhile, lakhs of central government employees are waiting for their 18 months’ Dearness Allowance or DA dues under the 7th Pay Commission. The Finance Ministry recently issued a statement and said that this was done to ease the pressure on government finances amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Various media reports have said that the Center may soon resolve the issue of DA arrears of 18 months.
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