If your basic pension is Rs 30,000, your Dearness Relief just rose from Rs 17,400 to Rs 18,000 a month, an extra Rs 600 every month from 1 January 2026, because central government Dearness Relief was raised from 58 percent to 60 percent. Your bank must pay the higher amount plus arrears without you applying for it.
Dearness Relief, or DR, is the inflation-linked top-up paid on your basic pension. The central government revised it to 60 percent of basic pension and family pension with effect from 1 January 2026. This page shows you the exact arithmetic, how arrears work, how to confirm your bank actually credited the increase, and what to do under RTI if it did not.
DR is always a percentage of your basic pension only, not of your existing total. At 60 percent, multiply your basic pension by 0.60 and add it back.
| Basic pension per month | DR at 60 percent | Total pension per month |
|---|---|---|
| Rs 10,000 | Rs 6,000 | Rs 16,000 |
| Rs 20,000 | Rs 12,000 | Rs 32,000 |
| Rs 30,000 | Rs 18,000 | Rs 48,000 |
| Rs 45,000 | Rs 27,000 | Rs 72,000 |
| Rs 60,000 | Rs 36,000 | Rs 96,000 |
The formula is simple:
If you draw an additional pension because you are 80 years or older, DR at 60 percent applies on that additional pension too. The same 60 percent applies to family pension, including the enhanced family pension rate.
DR vs DA, what is the difference? Dearness Allowance, or DA, is the inflation top-up paid to serving government employees on their basic pay. Dearness Relief, or DR, is the same idea for pensioners and family pensioners, paid on basic pension. The percentage moves together, so when DA for employees goes to 60 percent, DR for pensioners goes to 60 percent as well. The word changes only because one group is working and the other is retired.
The increase from 58 percent to 60 percent, with effect from 1 January 2026, was ordered by the Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare, DoPPW, per the DoPPW Dearness Relief order of April 2026. The official notice sits on the DoPPW Dearness Relief page. Indian Railways issued its own matching order, Railway Board RBE No. 36/2026, granting the same 60 percent with effect from 1 January 2026 to railway pensioners.
The revised DR covers:
Critically, pension disbursing banks and Accountant General offices are directed to pay the revised DR without waiting for any further instructions. You do not have to submit a form or visit the branch. The credit should happen automatically.
Because the order is dated April 2026 but takes effect from 1 January 2026, you are owed the difference for every month between January and the month your bank actually starts paying 60 percent.
The arrear is the gap between old and new DR. On a Rs 30,000 basic pension:
If your bank pays the revised DR starting from the April 2026 pension and clears arrears for January, February and March, that is 3 months times Rs 600, or Rs 1,800 in one-time arrears for this example. Scale the Rs 600 figure to your own basic pension and count the months until your bank corrected the rate.
Arrears are normally paid as a single lump credit in the month the bank implements the order. Keep your bank statement for that month so you can see the arrears line separately from the regular pension.
Banks sometimes lag, or apply the old 58 percent rate by mistake. Verify in five minutes:
If the DR shown is your basic times 0.58, or there is no arrears entry by mid-2026, your bank has under-paid and you should raise it formally.
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Real-life example. Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak, a retired central government officer in Patna, draws a basic pension of Rs 42,000. From January 2026 his DR should be Rs 42,000 times 0.60, that is Rs 25,200, taking his monthly pension to Rs 67,200. In May 2026 he noticed his bank still paid DR of Rs 24,360, the old 58 percent rate, and no arrears. He wrote to the CPPC, lodged a CPENGRAMS grievance, and filed an RTI to the bank PIO asking when the April 2026 order would be applied to his PPO. The bank corrected the rate and released four months of arrears at Rs 840 a month, Rs 3,360 in total.
No. Pension disbursing banks and Accountant General offices are directed to pay the revised DR without waiting for further instructions. The credit should be automatic, including arrears from January 2026.
Yes. The 60 percent DR applies to basic pension and family pension alike, including the additional pension paid to pensioners aged 80 and above.
Find the monthly gap between old DR at 58 percent and new DR at 60 percent, which is 2 percent of your basic pension, then multiply by the number of months from January 2026 until your bank applied the new rate.
Write to your branch and the bank CPPC quoting the DoPPW order of April 2026, lodge a CPENGRAMS grievance, and file an RTI to the bank or CPAO Public Information Officer under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act 2005 asking when the order was applied to your PPO.
DR is part of your pension and is taxed in the same way as your pension income, subject to the usual exemptions and slabs that apply to your total income for the year.