7th Pay Commission updates: Perks that Central government employees get even before decision on DA arrears

Under the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the National Council of JCM, which represents central government employees, will have a meeting with the Union Finance Ministry and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) today (June 26) to discuss the Dearness Allowance (DA) hike of as many as 52 lakh central government employees and 60 lakh pensioners. A decision on DA arrears will also be taken. 

However, the government has introduced many other perks for central government employees under the 7th Pay Commission. 

Travelling Allowance (TA) claims deadline:

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has decided to extend the time limit for submission of claims for Travelling Allowance (TA) on retirement from 60 days to 180 days following the date of completion of the travel. The Centre, however, announced that the time limit for submission of TA claim on tour, transfer and training will remain 60 days. The announcement was made by the Department of Expenditure at the Ministry of Finance.

It is to be noted that TA, DA and other allowances are given to Central Government employees as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. 

Earlier, the Department of Expenditure had said in a letter on March 13, 2018 had changed the time limit for submission of claims for TA on Tour/Transfer/Training/ Journey on retirement to 60 days from one year.

However, the department has decided to bring changes in the time limit after it received several requests from different government departments regarding the extension of time limit for submission of TA claims against journeys performed by retired employees and their families for going to home town/place of settlement after retirement as retired Central government employees often face trouble in claiming reimbursement of TA on retirement within a period of sixty days of completion of their journey.

The new notification issued by the department of expenditure said that it has considered the matter and it has been decided that the time limit for submission of claims for TA on Retirement is modified from 60 days to 180 days (six months), succeeding the date of completion of the journey.

The notification also mentioned that the new orders for claiming TA on retirement will be effective from the date of issue of the order that is June 15, 2021.

House Building Advance (HBA) scheme benefit:

Central government employees are offered the House Building Advance (HBA) scheme to help them avail loans at cheaper interest rates for the construction of their homes. Recently, the Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs had announced that the last date to take a loan under the HBA scheme has been postponed to March 31, 2022, from October 1, 2020. At present, employees can get an HBA loan at 7.90% basic interest.  

Monthly Pension Slips:

The pension disbursing banks have been directed to issue pension slips with a complete breakup via SMS, WhatsApp and e-mail. 

National Pension System (NPS) benefits:

Central government employees who are offered benefits under the National Pension System (NPS) can now use the pension corpus available with the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).