8th Pay Commission HRA: Check 7th Pay Commission's Recommendation For Central Govt Employees' Maximum HRA In X, Y, Z Cities

Since the cabinet approval for the set up of 8th Pay Commission was announced in January, a lot of anticipation and speculations have gained buzz regarding pay revision, allowances and HRA.

How much HRA will be hiked or revised under the 8th Pay Commission? It all depends on the formation of the pay panel member headed by a chairman. Meanwhile, a look into the HRA recommendations under the 7th Pay Commission could give a vague idea on expectations regarding the next pay commission's recommendation.

A high-level committee headed by the Finance Secretary, Ashok Lavasa had in 2017 submitted its report to then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding the HRA for central government employees.

The committee on allowances gave its view in favour of AK Mathur-led 7th Pay Commission recommendation, regarding decrease in house rent allowance (HRA) by 2-6 percent depending on type of cities

Population of City: Above 50 lakh (Class X) Present HRA= 30%; Proposed HRA= 24% Where DA above 50% = 27%; DA above 100% = 30% Population of City: 5 lakh to 50 lakh (Class Y) Present HRA= 20%; Proposed HRA= 16% Where DA above 50% = 18%; DA above 100% = 20% Population of City: Below 5 lakh (Class Z) Present HRA= 10%; Proposed HRA= 8% Where DA above % = 9%; DA above 100% = 10%  

The 7th Pay Commission headed by AK Mathur had earlier proposed the rate of House Rent Allowance (HRA) at 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively. The Commission had also recommended that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent. The existing rates of HRA for Class X, Y and Z cities and towns were so far 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent of Basic pay (pay in the pay band plus grade pay).