Central Govt Salary 7th Pay Commission

Dearness allowance (DA) is a percentage of basic pay: 60% now, so ₹26,940 on ₹44,900. House rent allowance (HRA) is a percentage of basic pay too, set by the class of your city: 30% for class X, which is ₹13,470.

Transport allowance is a fixed amount for your level and city (₹3,600 for Levels 3 to 8 in the cities on the Department of Expenditure’s list, ₹1,800 elsewhere), and DA is paid on it too: ₹3,600 plus ₹2,160.

From the gross, ₹7,184 goes to NPS (10% of basic plus DA), ₹650 to the CGHS health scheme, ₹60 to group insurance, and income tax is taken if any is due. What the government adds to your pension account is not on the slip.

Each level has its own column. Moving down a column is the yearly increment, about 3%, and a promotion moves you to a higher level, usually to the cell that is the same or the next above your pay. Level 1 has 40 cells; the top levels have only a few, and Levels 17 and 18 have one fixed pay each.

The pay matrix started on 1 January 2016, when existing pay was multiplied by 2.57 and placed at the same cell or the next one up. Level 13 was changed in 2017: it now starts at ₹1,23,100 and has 20 cells, so a table that still shows ₹1,18,500 is out of date.

If your pay is not in the pay matrix, your pay slip may be in an older pay scale. Each level page lists the old pay band and grade pay it replaced.

The Cabinet approved 60% on 18 April 2026, effective January 2026, up from 58%. DA follows the average of the All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers over twelve months.

The July 2026 instalment has not been announced. The same formula, on the twelve monthly index readings from July 2025 to June 2026, gives 63.76%, and only the whole number is paid: 63%. That is arithmetic, not an announcement: the rate is what the Cabinet approves.

The 8 X cities are Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata. The Y list has 84 more cities, from Vijayawada to Dehradun, and every town not named is class Z. Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad are paid at Delhi’s class X rates, and Panchkula and Mohali at Chandigarh’s class Y rates.

The rates were 24%, 16% and 8% when the 7th Pay Commission began. They rose to 27%, 18% and 9% once DA crossed 25%, and to 30%, 20% and 10% once it crossed 50%. HRA is never less than ₹5,400, ₹3,600 and ₹1,800 a month in the three classes.

NPS and the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) both take 10% of basic plus DA from you: ₹7,184 here. So the choice between them does not change your in-hand pay. It changes what the government adds and the pension you get. Under NPS the government adds 14%; under UPS 10% to your account and 8.5% to a pool. Staff on the old pension pay a GPF subscription they choose instead.

CGHS is ₹250 to ₹1,000 a month by pay level and CGEGIS ₹30 to ₹120 by group, so they matter little. Professional tax is taken where the state levies it, if your office deducts it. Income tax is worked out on a year of this month’s pay.

The figures are for a class X city, in the new regime, which most employees are better off in. The tax is worked out on a year of this month’s pay, less the ₹75,000 standard deduction, and a twelfth of it is taken each month. The rebate makes tax zero up to ₹12,00,000 of taxable income, with marginal relief just above.

A Level 7 employee, for example, pays no income tax until basic pay reaches ₹53,600 (cell 7), in a class X city.

Your real tax depends on your whole year, arrears of DA and any other income. DA arrears are taxed in the year you receive them. The old regime lets you subtract HRA exemption on rent, 80C savings and your own pension contribution; open More options to try it.