7th Pay Commission 18-Months Frozen DA Arrears During Covid: Finance Ministry Responds On Payment Of Arrear Money

Following the cabinet approval for the formation of 8th Pay Commission, the demand for payment of 18 months-pending Dearness allowance (DA) that had been frozen from January 2020 to June 2021, has also been parallelly discussed by the central government employees.

The issue on 18-Months Frozen DA Arrear has also been raised a few times in the upper and the lower house of Parliament. Anand Bhadauria, the Samajwadi Party and the Member of Parliament representing the Dhaurahra Lok Sabha, raised the question in the lower house on 11 August 2025 regarding DA Arrears for Central Government Employees during COVID-19.

He asked the Finance Ministry whether the decision to freeze 18 months dearness allowance and dearness relief for Central Government employees and pensioners during COVID-19 were taken due to economic disruption and to ease pressure on Government finances. If so, whether fiscal condition of the Government is still under pressure and is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Bhadauria also sought the details thereof and the reasons for failure of the Government to keep the robust fiscal condition of the country upto the mark which it inherited in legacy in 2014. If not, the time by which the Government would release the arrears of 18 months DA/DR.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, responding to the question said, "The decision to freeze three instalments of Dearness Allowance (DA) / Dearness Relief (DR) to Central Government employees / pensioners due from 01.01.2020, 01.07.2020 & 01.01.2021 was taken in the context of COVID-19, which caused economic disruption, so as to ease pressure on Government finances."

The fiscal deficit of the Government of India has narrowed from 9.2 per cent in the Financial Year (FY) 2020-21 to 4.4 per cent in the FY 2025-26 (Budget Estimates), Chaudhary responded.

The adverse financial impact of pandemic in 2020 and the financing of welfare measures taken by the Government had a fiscal spill over beyond FY 2020-21. Therefore, arrears of DA/DR were not considered feasible, Chaudhary responded.