What is DA and DR?
Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) both are the same. Dearness allowance and Dearness relief are being granted to existing employees and retired employees respectively. Dearness allowance is calculated on the basis of current basic pay of Government employees and the dearness relief is calculated on the basis of basic pension of Government pensioners. DA/DR is normally declared twice a year for compensating the price hike of essential commodities. DA/DR is indicating a particular percentage fixed by the Central Government. The calculation of DA/DR is based on CPI (IW) as per the recommendations of the 7th pay commission.
How to calculate DA?
Dearness allowance (DA) is calculated on the percentage fixed by the Central Government from time to time as per the calculation method prescribed by the pay commission.
DA Calculation Formula
The formula for calculating DA is given below and the method of calculation is common for 5th CPC DA, 6th CPC DA and 7th CPC DA. The linking factor is given below for calculating the percentage of DA. The linking factor is nothing but the average of 12 months of All India Consumer Price Index number from Jan 2015 to Dec 2015.
Percentage of Dearness Allowance = (Average of AICPIN for the past 12 months – Fitment Linking Factor) x 100 / Fitment Linking Factor
- 5th CPC Fitment Linking Factor for DA Calculation = 306.33
- 6th CPC Fitment Linking Factor for DA Calculation = 115.76
- 7th CPC Fitment Linking Factor for DA Calculation = 261.4
7th Pay Commission DA Percentage = (Average of AICPI for the past 12 months – 261.4) x 100 / 261.4
- Current Rate of DA is 17%
5th Pay 6th Pay