DA hike: Why is there delay in DA hike announcement and when can government make it?

Central government employees have long been waiting for a dearness allowance (DA) hike for July 2026, but they may have to wait longer, as the government hasn’t announced it so far. The government didn’t hold its weekly meeting on Wednesday, where the possibility of the DA hike announcement was high.

However, the DA hike announcement doesn’t require a cabinet meeting and can be made by the Finance Ministry without it.

Ever since the Labour Bureau announced the All India Consumer Price Index (Industrial Workers) for June 2026 on July 31, central government employees have been waiting for the DA hike announcement. Their expectations have been high in October’s cabinet meetings.


In its previous meeting on October 14, the government announced performance-linked bonus (PLB) for Railway employees and didn’t say anything about the DA hike.

Two days later, on October 16, the Centre declared the non-performance-linked bonus for central government employees, but didn’t touch upon the DA hike topic. The government didn’t make any announcement ahead of Dussehra, which fell on October 20.

Officials associated with some employee associations predicted that the government might decide it after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. However, an official later told ET Wealth that no meeting took place today.

Now it is to be seen when the government announces it.

DA hike order dates of last 5 years

Govt order date	DA rate (%)	DA hike (%)
April 22, 2026	60%	2%
October 6, 2025	58%	3%
April 2, 2025	55%	2%
October 21, 2024	53%	3%
March 12, 2024	50%	4%
October 20, 2023	46%	4%
April 3, 2023	42%	4%
October 3, 2022	38%	4%
March 31, 2022	34%	3%
October 25, 2021	31%	3%
July 20, 2021	28%	11%

Source: Finance Ministry

The government announces the DA hike twice a year. The hike depends on the 12-month average inflation index. For the January hike, the 12-month index reading is taken from January to December of the previous year.

For the July DA hike, the index is counted from July of the previous year to June of the same year.

Expected DA hike for July 2026

The current DA rate for central government employees is 60%. They will receive the hike as per the 12-month average retail inflation data (July 2025-June 2026). As per the average retail inflation, the estimated DA hike for July 2026 can be 3%, which can take the DA rate to 63%.

Government employees’ protest for delay in DA hike

The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers, a prominent employees’ body, on October 16 also demonstrated a lunch-hour protest at workplaces to demand the DA hike announcement.

In its letter dated October 14 sent to the cabinet secretary, central government, the confederation said that the demonstration was to ask the government to immediately declare the due instalment of DA and dearness relief (DR) with effect from July 1, 2026, for employees and pensioners and the announcement of ad-hoc and PLB bonus for the financial year 2025-26.

While the government announced the PLB the next day, it has yet to announce the DA hike.