HRA: Admissibility of House Rent Allowance in the event of non-acceptance or surrender of railway residential accommodation

HRA: Admissibility of House Rent Allowance in the event of non-acceptance or surrender of railway residential accommodation

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY BOARD

No.E(P&A)II/2012/F.E.2/4
The General Manager,
All Indian Railways/PUs, NF(Con), CORE
The DG/RDSO/Lucknow, DG/NAIR/Vadodara
CA0s,DMW/Patia1a, WPO/Patna, COFMOW/NDLS, RWP/Bela, CAO/IROAF

Dated: 02.04.2019

Sub: Admissibility of House Rent Allowance (HRA) in the event of non-acceptance or surrender of railway residential accommodation.

Ref:
(1) Department of Expenditures, MoFs 0M No.2/5/2017-E.IIB dated 05.03.2019
(2) Rai1way Board’s letter No.E(P&A)II-87/HRA-15, dated 16.5.1988
(3) Rai1way Board’s No.E(P&A)II-95/HRA-3, dated 14.02.1996
(4) Rai1way Board’s letter No.E(P&A)II-99/HRA-2, dated 12.07.1999 & 16.03.2000
(5) Rai1way Board’s letter No.E(P&A)II-2002/HRA-4, dated 16.10.2002 & 09.05.2003
(6) Rai1way Board’s No.E(P&A)II-2010/HRA-2, dated 08.12.2010
(7) Rai1way Board’s letter No.E(P&A)II-2017/HRA-3, dated 15.01.2018

With reference to Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance’s Office Memorandum at (I) & other Railway Board’s references above, Board (MS, FC & CRB) have approved the following:
For other than those Railway employees (officers and staff) for whom accommodation is specially earmarked and whose occupation of railway quarter is essential for easy accessibility during emergencies, efficient discharge of their duties, et., the condition of Applying for Government Accommodation and furnishing of ‘No Accommodation Certificate’ by Employees to become eligible for HRA may be dispensed with and Department of Expenditure. MoF’s letter under reference may be made applicable Mutatis Mutandis is for such categories of Railway employees.
Railway accommodation so vacated may be allotted to other employees of the same pool or other pool or Essential category employees by changing the pool, if required, by the Zonal Railway. The Quarter-allotment Authority shall promptly take necessary action in this regard.

Other extant instructions/guidelines issued from Board on the subject shall remain unchanged as modified from time to time.

Department of Expenditure, MoF’s letter under ref. (1) is enclosed for ready reference.

This issues with the concurrence of Associate Finance of Transformation Cell Of Railway Board.
Kindly acknowledge the receipt and ensure compliance.

sd/-
(Umesh Balonda)
Executive Director/S&T)
Transformation Cell

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House Rent Allowance (HRA) : Report of the Committee on Allowances

House Rent Allowance (HRA) : Report of the Committee on Allowances

House Rent Allowance (HRA) (Para 8.7.3-16)

Existing Provisions: HRA is paid @30, 20 and 10 percent for X class (50 Lakh & above), Y class (5 to 50 lakh) and Z class (below 5 lakh) cities respectively.

At present, in the case of those drawing either NPA or MSP or both, HRA is being paid as a percentage of BP+NPA or BP+MSP or BP+NPA+MSP respectively.

Recommendations of 7th CPC: It has been retained and rationalized. After applying a multiplication factor of 0.8, the rates have been revised downwards to 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the Basic Pay for X, Y and Z class cities, respectively.

The rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent. Add-ons like NPA, MSP, etc. should not be included while working out HRA.

Demands:

I. National Council (Staff Side), JCM: HRA may be retained @30%, 20% and 10% for X, Y and Z cities respectively as the Commission has taken unreliable statistics to determine HRA, which has been reduced by a multiplication factor of 0.8 to 24%, 16% and 8% for X, Y and Z cities respectively.

II. CAG, Civil Aviation, M/o Health & FW, M/o HRD - D/o of Higher Education, MEA, Coal, DAE, DRDO, Dep. Of Space, CVC: Retain the allowance at the existing rates.

III. M/o of Law & Justice- D/o Justice: Cities having population of more than 1 crore may be granted HRA @ 30%.

Analysis and Recommendations of the Committee: The Committee has the following observations on the recommendations of the 7th CPC on HRA:

(I) HRA rates have been revised downwards by applying the multiplication factor of 0.8 applied by the 7th CPC on all percentage- based allowances. This was done to neutralise the significant increase in the Basic Pay. All fixed allowances have only been given an inflation indexed increase by the 7th CPC. While the 7th CPC has not explicitly stated how the multiplication factor of 0.8 has been arrived at anywhere in the Report, it may be seen that factoring in the expected Dearness Allowance of 125% on 01.01. 2016 would have yielded a multiplication factor of 0.875 which may have been rounded off to 0.8.

(II) On the 7th CPC recommendation that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27%, 18% and 9% when DA crosses 50 percent and further revised to 30%, 20% & 10% when DA crosses 100%, the Committee is of the view that given the inflation rates since January 2016 and the RBI policy on inflation, the DA rates might not go beyond 50% in the next 10 years.

(III) While the rents for residential accommodation have not gone up significantly in the recent past and might also have fallen in some areas, the HRA at the rates recommended by the 7th CPC at the lower levels might not continue to be adequate as per the prevailing market rent.

In view of these observations, the Committee has deliberated upon the following three options which separately, or in combination, can be suggested by way of modifications to the 7th CPC recommendations:

Option (i): Having regard to submissions made before it stating that towards the later part of the ten year period, HRA compensation falls considerably short of requirement, the 7th CPC has recommended that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent. However, considering the present inflation rate, the rate of increase of the Dearness Allowance and future inflation projections, it appears unlikely that DA rates will reach 100 % in the ten year period. Taking this into consideration, the Committee considered that the timing of the upward revisions in HRA rates proposed by the 7th CPC may be advanced as under:

This would have no immediate financial implication and the 1st revision, as per the current trend of increase in DA, is expected to occur in July, 2018. Accordingly, additional annual financial implication in July, 2018 will be approximately Rs.1850 crore. The additional financial implication in the second, third and fourth revision will also be
approximately Rs.1850 crore per annum.

Option (ii): Instead of advancing the full restoration of HRA rates, the Committee considered splitting the revisions proposed by 7th CPC as under:

The financial implication would be similar as in Option (i) except that the timing of the revision would undergo a change.

Option (iii): It has been pointed out that at the recommended rates, HRA at the minimum level might not be sufficient. The minimum HRA calculated at the entry level of Level 1for X, Y and Z category cities at the rates recommended by the 7th CPC will be Rs.4320, Rs.2880 and Rs.1440 respectively. The Committee considered recommending that the HRA at the rates recommended by the 7th CPC may be subject to a floor which may be fixed at Rs.5400, Rs.3600 and Rs.1800 per month, calculated at 30%, 20% and 10% of the minimum pay for X, Y and Z category cities respectively. This will benefit employees in Levels 1, 2 and 3.

The additional financial implication is estimated to be Rs. 385.00 crore and around 7.70 lakh employees shall be benefited. After a detailed consideration of the above options, the Committee recommended that either only option (iii) or option (iii) in combination with option 

(ii) be accepted. A final decision in this regard may be taken by E-CoS.

Authority: www.doe.gov.in
Click to view the Report

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Allowance Committee and JCM NC Standing Committee meetings postponed to 25.10.2016

Allowance Committee and JCM NC Standing Committee meetings postponed to 25.10.2016

ALLOWANCE COMMITTEE MEETING & JCM NATIONAL COUNCIL STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS POSTPONED TO 25th OCTOBER 2016

GOVERNMENT INFORMED THAT MEETINGS OF THE ALLOWANCE COMMITTEE AND JCM NATIONAL COUNCIL STANDING COMMITTEE SCHEDULED TO BE HELD ON 13TH OCTOBER 2016 STANDS POSTPONED TO 25th OCTOBER 2016

M.Krishnan
Secretary General
Confederation
Mob: 09447068125
Email: mkrishnan6854@gmail.com

Source: Confederation Blog

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7th CPC Allowances : Meeting with JCM Staff Side on 13.10.2016

7th CPC Allowances : Meeting with JCM Staff Side on 13.10.2016

MEETING UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF SECRETARY (P) WITH THE SECRETARY STAFF SIDE, (NC) JCM TO FIRM THE VIEW ON VARIOUS ALLOWANCES PERTAINING TO DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING ON 13.10.2016 AT 3.00 PM.

IMMEDIATE
MEETING NOTICE

No.6/8/2016-PIC
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi
Dated: 30th September, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Meeting under the Chairmanship of Secretary (P) with the Secretary Staff Side, NC (JCM) to firm up the view on various allowances pertaining to Department of Personnel & Training on 13/10/2016 at 3.00 PM

The undersigned is directed to refer to Department of Expenditure’s meeting of committee on Allowances held on 01.09.2016 and to say that a meeting to discuss the various allowances pertaining to DoPT is scheduled to be held under the Chairpersonship of Secretary (P) on 13th October, 2016 at 15.00 Hrs in Room No.190, North Block, New Delhi.

2. It is requested to kindly make it convenient to attend the meeting.

sd/-
(D.K.Sengupta)
Deputy Secretary (CPC)

Source: Confederation

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Payment of Allowances in Revised pay may satisfy the Government Staff

Payment of Allowances in Revised pay may satisfy the Government Staff

It is believed that Payment of Allowances in Revised pay may at least satisfy the Government Staff, despite the fact that the Pay Hike is not sufficient.7th CPC Allowances

Bapus are annoyed about the inordinate delay in announcing Allowances. Talks are doing rounds that the government is deliberately playing the delaying tactics to make the CG Staff to accept the decisions of Allowance Committee.

Central Staff upset with Pay Hike

Already the Central Government Staff are very much upset with Pay Hike recommended for next Ten Long years. They in fact are not happy about the Arrears paid to them. Though the Govt has defended that the Pay Revision arrears will not be as high as in previous Pay Commission, because Arrears for couple of years had been paid in previous Pay Commission. But this time Pay Revision took place within seven months from the due date. So obviously the Pay Revision Arrears will be lesser than previous Pay Commission.

Though a Committee was formed to review the Minimum Pay and Fitment Factor, it is believed that it was wrapped up already. But the federations are Optimistic. They expect somehow the Committee will help them to pacify the Govt Servants on this particular issue.

But nonpayment of Allowances in revised Pay will certainly axe the feel good factor in Central Government Offices. They are started losing patience over it and expect the government to announce it soon. Because the take home pay after pay revision is unbelievably very low comparing to the previous Pay commission. The Central government should not reduce the rate of Allowances and it should be implemented with effect from 1.1.2016

Source: http://govtstaffnews.in/

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House Rent Allowance (HRA) Calculations after implementation of 7th CPC

House Rent Allowance (HRA) Calculations after implementation of 7^th CPC

The Union Cabinet finally cleared the 7^th Central Pay Commission for implementation on the 29^th of July 2016. The Report which recommended a hike in salaries and pension for employees and pensioners, will be implemented from 1^st January 2016. After taking into account dearness allowance at the prevailing rate, the salary, pension to all central government employees and pensioners will increase by at least 14.29 % as on January 2016, and could go up to 23 % in upper categories.

 The union cabinet approved the recommendations of the 7^th CPC on pay and pension but proposals for allowances was deferred and announced a committee under the finance secretary. The committee will analyse the allowances to be implemented or scraped. So the allowances like HRA, TA etc. will continue at existing rates for now.

 Regarding the HRA at present, it is 30 % for class X cities, 20% for Y cities, and 10% for Z class cities. However, in the 7^th CPC report it was recommended that the HRA should paid at the rate of 24%, 16% and 8% of the new basic pay for X, Y and Z category of cities respectively. The commission had recommended a rise in HRA when the DA crosses 50% to 27%, 18% and 9% and further increase to 30%, 20% and 10% when the DA crosses 100%.

 Now the allowances including HRA will be kept under the newly formed committee, there will be a huge confusion when calculating allowances including the HRA. On what basis will the HRA be calculated if the new recommendations are implemented?

 For example,

6th CPC Pay in the pay band	Grade Pay	Basic Pay	HRA @30%	7th CPC Basic pay	HRA @ 24%
Rs.13690	Rs.4200	Rs.17890	Rs.5367	Rs.46200	Rs.11088
Rs.10000	Rs.2000	Rs.12000	Rs.3600	Rs.30840	Rs.7464

Let us wait and see for the government orders regarding the calculations!!!!

Source: 7cpc.in

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7th CPC recommendations to reduce House Rent Allowance

7th CPC recommendations to reduce House Rent Allowance

The 7th Central Pay Commission has been recommended to reduce the percentage of House Rent Allowance for all categories of Central Government employees rationalized to 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively.

The Commission also recommends that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent.


7th CPC HRA: HRA is the most important factor of allowance issuing to existing Central Government employees, it is given for compensate to live in rented house. The HRA rules are allowed for getting allowance even if he/she living in own house.

A major changes had been made in 6th CPC on HRA rules. The percentages were prescribed on basic pay according to the cities in India. The cities are classified as X, Y and Z and the rates of percentage respect of the cities are 30%, 20% and 10% on basic pay (Grade pay including).

Central Government employees are expecting changes in the rate of percentage according to cities.

NC JCM STAFF SIDE SUGGESTION ON HOUSE RENT ALLOWANCE

National Council JCM Staff Side given suggestion on House Rent Allowance for Central Government employees as under…

House Rent allowance. 


The present scheme of HRA is based on the recommendation of the 6th CPC, which is as follows:

We reproduce hereunder the recommendation made by the third Central Pay Commission in the matter of grant of house rent allowance. (Para 29 Part I. Vol. IV.Chapter 56), which would be the best if implemented even today. While we find it difficult to accept the kind of parity suggested above, we are aware of the acute problem caused by the lack of adequate government housing and by the inadequate government housing and by the inadequacy of the existing rates of house rent allowance and recommend as follows:-

Government should take houses on long lease and make residential accommodation available to its employees on payment of 10% of their pay.

(ii) Government should lay down appropriate house rent allowance rates in different cities and towns based not on population criteria, but on an actual assessment of the prevailing levels of rent in different cities and towns. Alternatively, certain notional rents for different types of accommodation meant for officers and personnel of specified pay groups should be laid down for particular cities after studying the actual conditions in that city. The difference between the actual rent paid and 10% of pay should be reimbursed subject to a maximum of the difference between the notional rent and 10% of the pay. The existing norms in regard to entitlement of accommodation, size of rooms etc. could, if necessary, be reduced depending on the housing situation and the norms usually adopted by different income groups in renting accommodation in the various cities. Such notional rents should, to start with, be applied to all stations falling under the description of classified cities for purposes of House Rent Allowance, Additions could also be made to the list later on by including other cities deserving similar treatment.

 (iii) Till the Government is able to make arrangements recommended in the preceding sub-paragraphs, the rates of HRA should be as follows:-

The above said recommendations is still to be acted upon by the Government and the transitory provisions suggested by them i.e. payment of allowances at a pre-determined rate on the basis of classification made of the cities depending upon the population continue to be employed. The non-implementation of the above recommendation of the third CPC , has without exception, gone to depress the wage of all sections of Central Government employees as they are perforce to spend more than what they receive as HRA for obtaining and retaining the accommodation.

The rates prescribed by the 6th CPC, though an improvement over its predecessor Commission, it has not improved the situation. The real estate value throughout the country has skyrocketed and owning an accommodation within the city/Municipal limit has become impossible for Government employees. There is not a single town/village where the real estate boom has remained unaffected. The phenomenal increase in the value of land has naturally impacted the rent, one is to pay on leasing house/flat. The house rent allowance does not bear even a small percentage of the rent. The 7th CPC may recommend to the Government to act upon the suggestion made by the 3rd CPC without any further delay. Pending action on the part of the Government, the Commission may suggest the following rates of House Rent allowance;

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