By Admin 
DA hike: There is a good news for central government employees and pensioners. A 2 percent increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) from January 2026 is considered almost certain. This is expected to provide relief from rising inflation. This means that the time has come for the government employees and retired pensioners working under the Central Government to increase their salary and pension. At present, employees are getting dearness allowance at the rate of 58 percent and with the upcoming increase of 2 percent, it will become 60 percent.
On what basis is DA decided?
According to a report by Moneycontrol, speculations are not being made merely on the basis of estimates, rather the news of 2% increase in DA and DR is based on solid government data from the Labor Bureau. The All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI-IW), used for DA calculation, has increased by 0.5 points to 148.2 in November 2025.
According to the rules of the 7th Pay Commission, to determine DA, the Consumer Price Index (CPI-IW) of the last 12 months is considered, which is based on the expenditure on daily food items, transport, accommodation and health services.
What do experts say?
If we look at the data from July to November 2025, the graph has continuously gone upwards. Based on the data of November, the dearness allowance seems to have reached 59.93 percent, which clearly shows that the dearness allowance is very close to 60 percent and now there is no possibility of it going down.
Now all eyes are on the index for December 2025, which is yet to be released. But according to experts, the picture is not going to change now. The mathematics is very simple, even if the index remains stable in December, the average DA will be 60.34 percent. Even if there is a slight decline in the index, it will still remain at the level of 60 percent.
When will it be announced?
The government’s policy has always been that it declares dearness allowance not in decimal but in whole figures, hence any figure between 60.00 percent and 60.99 percent will ultimately be considered as 60 percent. This means that it is almost certain that the dearness allowance will increase by 2 percent from the current 58 percent to 60 percent.
Although these increased rates will be effective from January 1, 2026, due to government procedures, the official announcement and notification usually comes in March or April. The difference from January till the announcement will be given to the employees as arrears. This increase is also special because the new cycle of the 8th Pay Commission is believed to start from January 1, 2026.
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