7th CPC Charge Allowance Notional pay fixation and revision of Pension of Pre-2016

7th CPC Charge Allowance Notional pay fixation and revision of Pension of Pre-2016

7th CPC

Charge Allowance may have been paid w.e.f. 01.01.2016 to 30.06.2017 at old rates which was admissible before 2016, the same may be reckoned for calculation of retirement benefits of employees who retired between the periods from 01.01.2016 to 30.06.2017

PC-VII No.148/2020
RBE No.14 /2020

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (BHARAT SARKAR)
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (RAIL MANTRALAYA)
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. D-43/15/2019-F(E)III

New Delhi, dated: 30.01.2020.

The General Managers / Principal Financial Advisors,
ll Zonal Railways / Production Units.

Sub : Reckoning of Charge Allowance for the purpose of revision of Pension of Pre-2016 retirees in terms of 7th CPC recommendations - reg.

Consequent upon the recommendations of 7th CPC, instructions were issued vide Board’s letters No.2016/F(E)III/1(1)/7 dated 10.08.2016 and 22.05.2017, regarding revision of pension / family pension of pre-2016 pensioners / family pensioners. A number of references have been received in this office for reckoning of Charge Allowance for the purpose of notional fixation of pay and accordingly revision of pension w.e.f. 01.01.2016.

2. The true nature of charge allowance was earlier considered by the Board and it was decided that the charge allowance, which is actually in the nature of pay restricted under FR-35. should be reckoned as 'Pay' as defined in Rule 1303(FR-9)(21) (a)(i) R-II/6th Edition and as such, it would count as pay for the purposes of pension. gratuity etc. as well as for leave encashment. Accordingly, instructions were issued vide letter No. F(E)III/94/PN1/26 dated 23.06.1995.

3. The issue has again been examined in Board keeping in view the earlier decision on charge allowance cited in para 2 above and it has been decided as follows:-

• Since. Board had already decided to treat the charge allowance as pay restricted under FR-35 and to reckon it as emoluments for pensionary benefits vide letter dated 23.06.1995, the charge allowance may be taken into account for notional fixation of pay for the purpose of revision of pension / family pension of pre-2016 retirees w.e.f. 01.01.2016 in terms of first formulation as conveyed by Board’s letter No. 2016/F(E)III /1(1)/7 dated 22.05.2017.
• Pay fixed in terms of Board’s letter No. PC-VII/2017/ 1/7/5/8 dated 08.08.2019 w.e f. 01.07.2017 may also be treated as emoluments in terms of Rule 49 of the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993 for the purpose of fixation of pension.
• Since, Charge Allowance may have been paid w.e.f. 01.01.2016 to 30.06.2017 at old rates which was admissible before 2016, the same may be reckoned for calculation of retirement benefits of employees who retired between the periods from 01.01.2016 to 30.06.2017.

4. Please acknowledge receipt.

(G. Priya Sudarsani)
Director, Finance (Estt.),
Railway Board.

Dearness Relief payable to pre-1.1.1986 retirees of banks (b) surviving spouses of pre-1.1.86 Retirees receiving ex-gratia for the period February to July 2020

Dearness Relief payable to pre-1.1.1986 retirees of banks (b) surviving spouses of pre-1.1.86 Retirees receiving ex-gratia for the period February to July 2020

Indian Banks’ Association
HR & Industrial Relations

No.CIR/HR&IR/ D/G2/ 2019-20/ 8620

February 1, 2020

Designated Officers of all Nationalised Banks
and State Bank of India

Dear Sir/Madam,

Dearness Relief payable for the period February to July 2020 to surviving pre 1.1.1986 retirees of banks (b) surviving spouses of pre 1.1.86 Retirees who are in receipt of Ex-gratia

As per the directive contained in the Government of India, Ministry of Finance Department of Economic Affairs (Banking Division) letter F.No.11/2/2012-IR dated 17.12.2013, the Dearness Relief payable to surviving pre 1.1.1986 retirees of banks for the period February 2020 to July 2020 on Ex-gratia will be as under :

Also check: Bank Employees Dearness Allowance from February 2020 – DA 2020

Applicable CPI Average	Amount of Ex-gratia per month	Rate of Dearness Relief	Amount of Dearness Relief per month	Total Ex-gratia amount including Dearness Relief per month
7479	Rs.	%	Rs.	Rs.
Pre 1.1.86 Retirees	350	1151.73	4031	4381
Surviving spouses of pre 1.1.86 retirees	175	1151.73	2016	2191

Yours faithfully,
S K Kakkar
Senior Advisor(HR & IR)

CBDT issues clarification on the applicability of TDS provisions on Mutual Fund dividend

Ministry of Finance
CBDT issues clarification on the applicability of TDS provisions on Mutual Fund dividend

04 FEB 2020

The Finance Bill, 2020 proposed to remove Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) at the level of Company/ Mutual Fund and proposed to tax the same in the hands of share/ unit holder. It was also proposed to levy TDS at the rate of 10% on the dividend/ income paid by the Company/ Mutual Fund to its share/unit holder if the amount of such dividend/ income exceeds five thousand rupees in a Financial Year.

Also check: Budget 2020 - Personal Income Tax and tax simplification

Queries have been received to the effect that whether under the proposed section 194K, the Mutual Fund would be required to deduct TDS also on the capital gains arising on redemption of units. It is hereby clarified that under the proposed section, a Mutual Fund shall be required to deduct TDS @ 10% only on dividend payment and no tax shall be required to be deducted by the Mutual Fund on income which is in the nature of capital gains. Necessary clarification, if required, shall be proposed in the relevant provision of the law.

PIB

Bank Employees Dearness Allowance from February 2020 - DA 2020

Bank Employees Dearness Allowance from February 2020 - DA 2020

According to the 10th Bipartite Settlement for the period from February, March and April 2020, 75.90 percent of the Dearness Allowance (DA) grants to Bank employees. In this regard the Indian Banks Association (IBA) released a circular and the same is reproduced and provided for your information below :

Indian Banks’ Association
HR & Industrial Relations

No.CIR/HR&IR/ 76/D/2019-20/ 8619

February 1, 2020

All Members of the Association (Designated Officers)

Dear Sirs,
Dearness Allowance for Workmen and Officer Employees in banks for the months of February, March & April 2020 under X BPS / Joint Note dated 25.5.2015.
The confirmed All India Average Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers (Base 1960= 100) for the quarter ended December 2019 are as follows:-

• October 2019 – 7418.42
• November 2019 – 7486.90
• December 2019 – 7532.55

The average CPI of the above is 7479.29 and accordingly the number of DA slabs are 759 (7479 – 4440 = 3039 / 4 = 759 Slabs) The last quarterly Payment of DA was at 717 Slabs. Hence there is an increase in DA slabs of 42 i.e 759 Slabs for payment of DA for the quarter February, March and April 2020.

AICPIN for December 2019 – Press Release

In terms of clause 7 of the 10th Bipartite Settlement dated 25.05.2015 and clause 3 of the Joint Note dated 25.05.2015, the rate of Dearness Allowance payable to workmen and officer employees for the months of February, March & April 2020 shall be 75.90% of pay. While arriving at dearness allowance payable, decimals from third place may please be ignored.

Yours Faithfully,
sd/-
S K Kakkar
Senior Advisor (HR&IR)

MoD – Defence Budget 2020 – 2021 – Defence Pension 2020

MoD – Defence Budget 2020 – 2021 – Defence Pension 2020

The Union budget for the 2020-21 financial year, presented to Parliament on February 01, 2020 by Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, envisaged a total outlay of Rs 30,42,230 crore. Rs 3,37,553 crore (excluding Defence Pension) has been allocated for Defence. A amount of Rs 1,33,825 crore was provided for Defence Pension in Budget Estimates 2020-21.

There is an increase in total Defence allocations (Rs 4,71,378 crore) of Rs 40,367.21 crore including Defence Pension over the 2019-20 fiscal year. Total defence budget accounts for 15.49 per cent of total central government spending for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

The allocation of Rs 4,71,378 crore reflects a 9.37 per cent increase over Budget Estimates (Rs 4,31,010,79 crore) for the 2019-20 financial year.

Of the Rs 3,37,553 crore allocated for the 2020-21 financial year, Rs 2,18,998 crore is for revenue (Net) expenditure and Rs 1,18,555 crore is for capital expenditure for Defence Services and Ministry of Defense organizations / departments. The total of Rs 1,18,555 crore allocated for capital spending includes expenditure related to modernisation.

Input from PIB

Budget 2020 – Personal Income Tax and tax simplification

Budget 2020 – Personal Income Tax and tax simplification

In order to provide significant relief to individual taxpayers and to simplify the Income-Tax law, the Finance Minister proposed to introduce a new and simpler personal income tax system in which income tax rates will be substantially reduced for individual taxpayers who forgo such deductions and exemptions.

The proposed tax-slab adjustments are listed in the table below:

Taxable Income Slab (Rs.)	Existing tax rates	New tax rates
0-2.5 Lakh	Exempt	Exempt
2.5-5 Lakh	5%	5%
5-7.5 Lakh	20%	10%
7.5-10 Lakh	20%	15%
10-12.5 Lakh	30%	20%
12.5-15 Lakh	30%	25%
Above 15 Lakh	30%	30%

Surcharge and cess shall be continued to be levied at the existing rates.

In the new tax system, a taxpayer will gain substantial tax benefit, depending on the exemptions and deductions that he seeks. Thus its tax burden in the new regime will be reduced by Rs. 78,000. He would still be the gainer in the new regime, even though under the old regime he took deduction from Rs. 1.5 Lakh under various sections of Chapter VI-A of the Income Tax Act.

To individuals the new tax system will be free. An person currently benefiting from more deductions and exemptions under the Income Tax Act may choose to take advantage of them and continue to pay tax in the old regime.

The new rates for personal income tax would require foregone revenue of Rs. 40,000 crore per year. Measures were implemented to pre-fill the income tax return so that a person who opts for the new regime would not need an expert’s assistance to file their report and pay income tax.

The Finance Minister said that over the past several decades she has reviewed all exemptions and deductions that have been incorporated into the income tax legislation. The Income Tax Act currently provides more than one hundred exemptions and deductions of different character. In the new simplified regime, she said she has removed about 70 of them. She said that in the coming years, the remaining exemptions and deductions would also be reviewed and rationalized to further simplify the tax system and lower the tax rate.

4% DA hike to Central Government employees is confirmed as from 1 January 2020

4% DA hike to Central Government employees is confirmed as from 1 January 2020

The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, according to a press release issued by the Labor Bureau, increased by 2 points and pegged at 330
 
Now there is an average of 12 months of AICPIN available for calculating the DA from January 2020.

As per the approved Dearness Allowance rate calculation formula, the DA will be increased by 4 per cent from January 1st, 2020.

For impact from 1.1.2020, the DA rate will increase from the current 17 per cent to 21 per cent. For this DA hike the Central Government must grant its approval. In the second week of March 2020, the Union cabinet must approve the plan to increase DA from 1 January 2020

Check the Expected DA 2020 for Central Government Employees

The Ministry of Finance will subsequently issue an order for payment DA to central government employees and DR to pensioners with effect from 1.1.2020

It appears that AICPIN does not have anything to do with the January 2020 rate DA. But it will provide momentum to the July 2020 Expected DA to reach a level that will affect DA indexed Allowances.

Check the Press Release

AICPIN for December 2019 - Press Release

AICPIN for December 2019 - Press Release

The All-India CPI-IW for December 2019 increased by 2 points and pegged at 330 (three hundred and thirty)

No. 5/1/2019-CPI
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
LABOUR BUREAU

"CLEREMONT", SHIMLA - 171004
DATED: 31st January, 2020

Press Release

Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) - December 2019 

The AICPIN All-India CPI-IW for December 2019 increased by 2 points and pegged at 330 (three hundred and thirty). On 1-month percentage change, it increased by (+) 0.61 per cent between November and December 2019 when compared with the increase of (-) 0.33 per cent for the corresponding months of last year.

The maximum upward pressure to the change in current index came from Food group contributing (+) 1.87 percentage points to the total change. At item level, Onion, Jowar, Rice, Wheat & Wheat Atta, Arhar Dal, Moong Dal, Urd Dal, Mustard Oil, Egg (Hen), Fish Fresh, Goat Meat, Fresh Milk, Chillies Dry, Drum Stick, Potato, Cooking Gas, Electricity Charges, Fire Wood, Employees State Insurance (ESI) Contribution, Petrol, Flowers / Flower Garland etc. are responsible for the increase in index. However, this increase was checked by Chillies Green, Ginger, Banana, Brinjal, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Green Coriander leaves, Guava, Lemon, Methi, Palak, Peas, Radish, Tomato, Toilet Soap, etc., putting downward pressure on the index.

Don't forget to read: Expected DA 2020 for Central Government Employees and Pensioners

Year-on-year inflation based on all-items stood at 9.63 per cent for December 2019 as compared to 8.61 per cent for the previous month and 5.24 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, Food inflation stood at 12.22 per cent against 9.87 per cent of the previous month and (-) 0.96 per cent during the corresponding month of an year ago.

At centre level, Tiruchirapally observed the maximum increase of 12 points followed by Goa (11 points), Giridih and Belgaum (9 points each) and Ludhiana and Puducherry (8 points each). Among others, 7 points increase was observed in 4 centres, 6 points in 5 centres, 5 points in another 5 centres, 4 points in next another 5 centres, 3 points in 11 centres, 2 points in 12 centres and 1 point in 13 centres. On the contrary, Sholapur and Surat recorded a maximum decrease of 3 points each. Among others, 4 centres observed a fall in index by 2 points and 6 centres recorded a decline of 1 point. Rest of 5 centres indices remained stationary.

The indices of 34 centres are above All-India Index and 44 centres indices are below national average.

The next issue of CPI-IW for the month of January 2020 will be released on Friday 28th February, 2020. The same will also be available on the office website labourbureaunew.gov.in.

(AMRIT LAL JANGID)
DEPUTY DIRECTOR

4% DA hike to Central Government employees is confirmed as from 1 January 2020

4% DA hike to Central Government employees is confirmed as from 1 January 2020

The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, according to a press release issued by the Labor Bureau, increased by 2 points and pegged at 330
 
Now there is an average of 12 months of AICPIN available for calculating the DA from January 2020.

As per the approved Dearness Allowance rate calculation formula, the DA will be increased by 4 per cent from January 1st, 2020.

For impact from 1.1.2020, the DA rate will increase from the current 17 per cent to 21 per cent. For this DA hike the Central Government must grant its approval. In the second week of March 2020, the Union cabinet must approve the plan to increase DA from 1 January 2020

Check the Expected DA 2020 for Central Government Employees

The Ministry of Finance will subsequently issue an order for payment DA to central government employees and DR to pensioners with effect from 1.1.2020

It appears that AICPIN does not have anything to do with the January 2020 rate DA. But it will provide momentum to the July 2020 Expected DA to reach a level that will affect DA indexed Allowances.

Check the Press Release

AICPIN for December 2019 - Press Release

AICPIN for December 2019 - Press Release

The All-India CPI-IW for December 2019 increased by 2 points and pegged at 330 (three hundred and thirty)

No. 5/1/2019-CPI
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
LABOUR BUREAU

"CLEREMONT", SHIMLA - 171004
DATED: 31st January, 2020

Press Release

Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) - December 2019 

The AICPIN All-India CPI-IW for December 2019 increased by 2 points and pegged at 330 (three hundred and thirty). On 1-month percentage change, it increased by (+) 0.61 per cent between November and December 2019 when compared with the increase of (-) 0.33 per cent for the corresponding months of last year.

The maximum upward pressure to the change in current index came from Food group contributing (+) 1.87 percentage points to the total change. At item level, Onion, Jowar, Rice, Wheat & Wheat Atta, Arhar Dal, Moong Dal, Urd Dal, Mustard Oil, Egg (Hen), Fish Fresh, Goat Meat, Fresh Milk, Chillies Dry, Drum Stick, Potato, Cooking Gas, Electricity Charges, Fire Wood, Employees State Insurance (ESI) Contribution, Petrol, Flowers / Flower Garland etc. are responsible for the increase in index. However, this increase was checked by Chillies Green, Ginger, Banana, Brinjal, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Green Coriander leaves, Guava, Lemon, Methi, Palak, Peas, Radish, Tomato, Toilet Soap, etc., putting downward pressure on the index.

Don't forget to read: Expected DA 2020 for Central Government Employees and Pensioners

Year-on-year inflation based on all-items stood at 9.63 per cent for December 2019 as compared to 8.61 per cent for the previous month and 5.24 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, Food inflation stood at 12.22 per cent against 9.87 per cent of the previous month and (-) 0.96 per cent during the corresponding month of an year ago.

At centre level, Tiruchirapally observed the maximum increase of 12 points followed by Goa (11 points), Giridih and Belgaum (9 points each) and Ludhiana and Puducherry (8 points each). Among others, 7 points increase was observed in 4 centres, 6 points in 5 centres, 5 points in another 5 centres, 4 points in next another 5 centres, 3 points in 11 centres, 2 points in 12 centres and 1 point in 13 centres. On the contrary, Sholapur and Surat recorded a maximum decrease of 3 points each. Among others, 4 centres observed a fall in index by 2 points and 6 centres recorded a decline of 1 point. Rest of 5 centres indices remained stationary.

The indices of 34 centres are above All-India Index and 44 centres indices are below national average.

The next issue of CPI-IW for the month of January 2020 will be released on Friday 28th February, 2020. The same will also be available on the office website labourbureaunew.gov.in.

(AMRIT LAL JANGID)
DEPUTY DIRECTOR