Railway body seeks Rs 18,000+DA as bonus ceiling for Level-1 employees; higher for others; how it may impact staff

The Indian Railways Technical Supervisors’ Association (IRTSA) has requested the central government to increase the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) ceiling for non-gazetted Level-1 employees to Rs 18,000 plus dearness allowance (DA) and for Level-2 employees and above, in proportion to higher pay levels.

In a letter dated September 8, 202, IRTSA Secretary General, KV Ramesh, wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, that the current PLB ceiling of Rs 7,000 set in the Financial Year 2014-15 doesn’t match the 7th Pay Commission levels and the present DA of 60%.

The Railway body says that the PLB amount for non-gazetted Railway employees remains the same at Rs 17,951 from 2014-15, when the 6th Pay Commission salary slabs were in place, and would have increased to Rs 27,824 had the 60% DA rate been taken into account, let alone the 7th Pay Commission salary slabs.


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Ramesh told ET Wealth Online that if the demand for a higher wage ceiling is met, as many as 12 lakh Railway employees will benefit.

The IRTSA’s demand for a higher wage ceiling has come at a time when the National Council – Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), the main central government employees’ body, last month requested the central government to increase the PLB wage ceiling from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 for all non-gazetted employees.

What is the performance-linked bonus (PLB) for central government employees?

Non-gazetted Group C and B central government employees, on the occasion of Dussehra, get a performance-linked bonus every year. The PLB is calculated on a wage ceiling of Rs 7,000 since 2014-15. As per the Rs 7,000 ceiling, the bonus for most central government employees comes to Rs 6,908.

Payable bonus (PLB)= Wage ceiling x 30/30.4= Rs 7,000 x 30/30.4= Rs 6,908.

Since the minimum salary of an employee under the 7th Pay Commission is Rs 18,000, employee associations say that the Rs 7,000 bonus wage ceiling fails to meet current pay scales and the DA rate.

However, for Railway employees, the PLB in a year is Rs 17,951.

Minimum PLB that IRSTA wants for Railway employees

In its letter, the IRSTA says that if the PLB is paid for the minimum basic pay of Rs 18,000 and for 78 days, PLB will be Rs 46,184

Minimum PLB demanded for Railway employees: Rs 18000 X 78 days ÷ 30.4 = Rs 46,184.

Why do Railway employees get Rs 17,951/year as PLB?

For Railway employees, the PLB amount is calculated at 78 days, while for other central government employees, it is calculated at 30 days.

Railway PLB formula is based on output-input ratio

The IRTSA in the letter said that the formula for the PLB is based on the output-input ratio, where output was reckoned in terms of equated net tonne kilometres and input was reckoned as the non-gazetted staff strength (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel).

The letter further says that the net tonne kms (in millons) for freight was increased by 42.32% from 6,82,612 in 2014-15 to 9,71,460 in 2024-25.

In the same period, the staff strength was reduced by 7.32% from 1,326,000 to 1,299,000. It says that between 2014-15 and 2024-25, the output-input ratio in terms of net tonne kms (in millons) for freight and staff strength increased by 53.55%.

The IRTSA claims that if a proportionate increase was given in terms of net tonne kms (in millions) for freight, Rs 27,564 would have been the PLB amount.