In good news for the Central Government employees, the Department of Expenditure (DOE) under the Ministry of Finance has partially changed a rule that allowed for payment of dress allowance only in the month of July in a year.
Now the Finance Ministry has decided that dress allowance will be paid on a proportionate basis to an employee who joins service after the payment of dress allowance in July.
“lf a Central Govt. employee has joined service after Dress Allowance is paid in the month of July as per the instructions mentioned in para 4 of the said OM dated 02.08.2017, Dress Allowance would be given on proportionate basis,” Finance Ministry’s Department of Expenditure (DEA) said in an Office Memorandum dated March 24, 2025.
Dress allowance formula
The ministry has also provided the formula that will be used for the proportionate payment of the dress allowance. It will be calculated as follows:
Amount/12 x No. of months (from the month of joining government service to the month of June of the following year)
For example, suppose an employee is eligible to get ₹10,000 dress allowance and he joins in December. As per the formula provided by the ministry, the proportionate dress allowance will be (₹10,000/12)*7 = ₹5833.
The ministry’s decision came in response to a long-pending demand of employees to provide clarity on the rule that allowed payment of dress allowance only in July.
How much is given as dress allowance
The dress allowance only covers the basic uniform of employees. Other special clothing requirements of employees are covered separately by respective ministries.
The dress allowance is paid to some categories of central government employees, based on the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission as follows:
| Category of Employee | Rate per Annum (₹) |
|---|---|
| Special Protection Group (SPG) Operational | 27,800 |
| Special Protection Group (SPG) Non-operational | 21,225 |
| Officers of Army/IAF/Navy/CAPFs/CPOs, RPF/RPSF, IPS, Coast Guard | 20,000 |
| MNS Officers, Officers of DANIPS, ACP of Delhi Police, Other Union Territories | 15,000 |
| Executive staff of Customs, Central Excise, and Narcotics Department (both summer and summer-cum-winter) | 10,000 |
| Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) Officers, Legal Officers in NIA, Bureau of Immigration Personnel (specific cities and locations) | 10,000 |
| PBORs of Defence Services, CAPFs/RPF/Police Forces of Union Territories and Indian Coast Guard, Station Masters of Indian Railways | 10.000 |
| Other categories of staff regularly wearing uniforms (Trackmen, Running Staff, Drivers, MTS, Canteen Staff, etc.) | 5,000 |
| Nurses | 1,800 per month |
Source: Ministry of Finance
The dress allowance recommended by the 7th Pay Commission subsumed allowances related to the maintenance and washing of the Uniform. It also recommended to increase dress allowance by 25% whenever DA rises by 50%.