The government has debunked a fake claim that the Dearness Allowance (DA), Dearness Relief (DR), and arrears payable to central government employees and pensioners will be kept in abeyance. The fake order claimed that the move is in view of the threat posed by the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

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"No such order has been issued by the Ministry of Finance," the government’s fact-checking wing, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check, said in a tweet. It also shared a picture of the fake order.

A #Fake order issued in the name of the Ministry of Finance claiming that the 'Dearness Allowance & Dearness Relief payable to Central Govt employees and pensioners will be kept in abeyance' is in circulation.#PIBFactCheck

▶️No such order has been issued by the @FinMinIndia. pic.twitter.com/DnZ4IY91FF— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) January 3, 2022

The fake letter claimed: "The undersigned is directed to say that in view of increasing cases of Omicron (COVID-19, SARS-2), it has been decided that Dearness Allowance payable to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Central Government pensioners, payable at current rates are to be kept in abeyance so as to deal with any unprecedented situation."

Meanwhile, the central government is likely to hike dearness allowance of its employees. Under the 7th pay commission, these employees may get a hike of another three percent hike in their DA, according to media reports.

However, there is no official statement in this regard.

The DA rate is announced twice a year (for periods from January to June, and from July to December) to adjust against any rise in inflation.

The increase in DA generally results in a proportionate increase in the monthly Provident Fund (PF) and gratuity component of the employees. Both PF (monthly) and gratuity are deducted in tandem with an employee's basic salary plus DA.

(Edited by : Anshul)