Mumbai, Nov 14 (IANS) The government has dismissed a viral social media message that claimed retired government employees would stop receiving dearness allowance (DA) hikes and future pay commission benefits under the Finance Act 2025.

“The claim is fake. Rule 37 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 has been amended to state that if an absorbed PSU employee is dismissed for misconduct, their retirement benefits will be forfeited,” the government said in a social media post on X platform.

The recent amendment only related to a narrow group under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021, where Rule 37(29C) was amended after consultation with the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare and the Ministry of Finance.

The amendment applies to former government employees who were absorbed into a PSU, whose retirement benefits will be forfeited only if the employee is later dismissed or removed from the PSU for misconduct.

The government’s fact checking arm noted on social media that the viral message falsely claimed Finance Act 2025 overriding a 1982 Supreme Court judgement.

The clarification follows the Centre’s approval of the Terms of Reference for the 8th Pay Commission, which has an 18‑month timeline to submit its report.

The National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), representing central government employees, had proposed that the 8th Pay commission should calculate the minimum wage based on a five-unit family model, including ageing parents, instead of the current model which accounts for only three family members.

Currently under the 7th Pay Commission, the earning husband of the family is counted as one unit, wife as 0.8 unit and two children as 0.6 units each.

NC-JCM expects this model to be revamped, arguing that taking care of parents, apart from being an ethical duty, is also a legal responsibility as per Indian law.

–IANS

aar/na