The Centre increased Dearness Allowance (DA) to 60% effective January 1, 2026, impacting millions of central government employees and pensioners under the 7th Pay Commission framework. According to reports from Mint, this increase from 58% to 60% has prompted various states and organizations to announce their own DA hikes. The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) followed with revisions for workmen and officer employees across pay levels for May, June and July 2026, hiking basic salaries between ₹48,000 to ₹1,17,000 and DA from ₹435 to ₹1,050.
Tamil Nadu announced a 2% DA hike effective January 1, 2026, affecting 16 lakh state government employees, teachers, individual pensioners, and family pensioners. As reported by Mint, the state will bear additional annual expenditure of ₹1,230 crore. Bihar implemented a 5 percentage point increase for employees under the 6th pay commission, raising DA from 257% to 262%, while employees under the 5th CPC saw DA increased by 9 percentage points from 474% to 483%. Odisha announced a 2% increase affecting around 8.5 lakh state government employees and pensioners.
Tripura Government announced a 5% hike in Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief effective April 1, 2026, impacting 1,02,563 employees and 81,019 pensioners. According to Angel One, this increment elevates the DA component of basic pay to 41%, aligning closer to the central government's 60% rate. Chief Minister Manik Saha announced that the state government has allocated ₹500 crore annually for this increment. Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy detailed that approximately ₹15,000 crore will be managed for salaries and pensions from the state's total budget of ₹34,212.31 crore for FY2026-27.
The Punjab state government announced on May 30, 2026, that it will consider payment of pending dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) dues of state government employees and pensioners for the period between July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024. According to PTI, a sub-committee has been formed to discuss payment of arrears for employees and pensioners based on revised salary and pension benefits for the period between January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021. The Cabinet has granted ex-post facto approval for the reconstitution of a Cabinet sub-committee comprising Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Cabinet Ministers Aman Arora and Baljit Kaur to examine issues related to pending arrears.
Arunachal Pradesh implemented a 2% DA hike effective January 1, 2026, covering 69,248 regular employees and 40,477 individual and family pensioners. According to Mint, the financial burden will cost an estimated ₹100.54 crore for the state, with arrears dues for January to April 2026 period likely around ₹33.51 crore. West Bengal has approved in principle forming its 7th state pay commission, while the Joint Action Committee of road transport corporation workers' unions in Karnataka is demanding a 25% salary hike and payment of DA arrears for 38 months totalling ₹1,272 crore.
Indian Railways announced a 2% DA hike for all railway staff and employees on May 13, covering lakhs of employees, pensioners, family pensioners, and other eligible beneficiaries under the 7th Central Pay Commission framework. As reported by Mint, the Railway Board stated that DA and Dearness Relief have been revised for these beneficiaries. The Indian Banks' Association also revised DA for workmen and officer employees across pay levels for May, June and July 2026, with hikes ranging from ₹435 to ₹1,050.
