Amid speculations about the increase in Travel Allowance (TA) of the central government employees after the central government's announcement of the restoration of Dearness Allowance (DA) from the month of July, a report has clarified that according to 7th CPC matrix calculation rule, the TA will not rise despite the rise of DA as the current DA is not 25 per cent and above.
As the existing DA of the central government employees is 17 per cent, therefore according to the 7th Pay Commission pay matrix, TA hike for the central government employees from the month of July is not going to be applicable.
According to the report in livemint.com, the TA hike is in sync with the hike in DA, however, this hike will be possible only when the DA is 25 per cent and above.
It may be recalled that 4 per cent increase in DA for government employees was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2020. This was to be effective from January 1, 2020 but the release of DA at increased rates was suspended along with DR for the pensioners due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Some media reports claimed that the central government employees should keep in mind 7th CPC Fitment Factor of 2.57 while calculating the probable hike in monthly salary. As per the 7th Pay Commission Fitment Factor, if an employee draws a monthly basic salary of Rs 21,000 then one's monthly 7th CPC salary hike will be Rs 51,400 (Rs 20,000 x 2.57).