Disparity Reduction Allowance 2026 for Federal Employees in Pakistan: 15% of June 2022 Basic Pay, Who Gets It
Disparity Reduction Allowance 2026 is 15% of basic pay as on 30 June 2022 for federal employees already drawing DRA. Who qualifies, worked amounts and rules.
Disparity Reduction Allowance 2026 is 15 per cent of the basic pay you drew on 30 June 2022, paid from 1 July 2026 to federal employees in BPS 1 to 22 who already receive Disparity Reduction Allowance. The Finance Division approved it in Office Memorandum No. 14(2)R-3/2025 dated 21 July 2026. Below is who qualifies, how to work out your own amount, the rules carried over from 2022, and what to do if it is missing from your payslip.
The allowance exists because some federal offices pay big extra allowances and others pay none. Disparity Reduction Allowance, often called DRA, tops up staff in the second group. We read the 2026, 2025 and February 2022 memoranda on the Finance Division's website on 31 October 2026.
DRA 2026 goes only to employees already drawing DRA
The 2026 memorandum is short. It grants the allowance "on the existing terms and conditions for those who are already in receipt of Disparity Reduction Allowance". So it is not new money for every federal employee. If you never got DRA before, the 2026 order does not add you.
The original test comes from the February 2022 memorandum. DRA was for civil employees of the federal government, including the Federal Secretariat, attached departments and subordinate offices, who had never been allowed extra allowances equal to or above 100 per cent of basic pay, or a performance allowance.
| Order | Date | Rate | Base pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| DRA 2022 | 23 February 2022, from 1 March 2022 | 15% | Basic pay on BPS 2017, BPS 1 to 19 |
| DRA 2025 | 4 July 2025, from 1 July 2025 | 30% | Basic pay as on 30 June 2022 |
| DRA 2026 | 21 July 2026, from 1 July 2026 | 15% | Basic pay as on 30 June 2022 |
The February 2022 order covered BPS 1 to 19. The 2025 and 2026 orders speak of BPS 1 to 22, and the 2025 order also cites a further memorandum of 19 July 2022. That one is a scanned image on the Finance Division's site, and we could not read it.
Your DRA 2026 is 15% of your 30 June 2022 basic pay
The base is fixed. It is the basic pay you drew on 30 June 2022, the last day before the 2022 pay scales started. A promotion or increment since then does not change the base. Neither do the new 2026 pay scales.
- Find a payslip for June 2022, or ask your accounts office for that month's basic pay.
- Multiply that basic pay by 15, then divide by 100.
- That is your monthly DRA 2026, before income tax.
- Compare it with the DRA 2026 line on your current payslip.
For people appointed on or after 1 July 2022, there was no basic pay on 30 June 2022. The 2025 order says their DRA is worked on the relevant initial basic pay scale of 2017. The 2026 order keeps the existing terms, so we expect the same method, but it does not say so in words.
| Basic pay on 30 June 2022 | DRA 2026 a month (15%) |
|---|---|
| Rs 20,000 | Rs 3,000 |
| Rs 30,000 | Rs 4,500 |
| Rs 50,000 | Rs 7,500 |
| Rs 80,000 | Rs 12,000 |
These are examples of the arithmetic, not anyone's actual pay. Your own figure depends on your June 2022 basic pay.
The 2022 rules still apply: taxable, no pension, paid on leave
Because the 2026 order keeps the existing terms, the conditions from February 2022 carry on. DRA is taxable. It does not count as emoluments for pension or gratuity, or for house rent recovery. It is paid during leave and the whole of leave preparatory to retirement, except extraordinary leave.
It is not paid while an employee is posted or on deputation abroad, but resumes at the full rate on return. It is paid during suspension. And "basic pay" includes personal pay given for increments beyond the top of the scale.
Since DRA is taxable, it raises your taxable salary. The effect on your monthly deduction can be checked in the salary tax calculator for 2026-27.
DRA is separate from the 7% ad hoc relief of 2026
Do not mix the two. The Ad-hoc Relief Allowance 2026 is 7 per cent of running basic pay on the new BPS 2026, for all federal civil employees, under the pay revision order of the same date. DRA 2026 is 15 per cent of the old June 2022 basic pay, for DRA holders only.
The 2026 pay revision also merged the 2022 and 2025 ad hoc relief allowances into the new scales, and froze percentage allowances at their 30 June 2026 level. The new scales and the freeze are explained in revised basic pay scales 2026. Neither the pay revision order nor the 4 August 2026 clarification mentions DRA, so we cannot say how the freeze treats earlier DRA amounts.
If DRA 2026 is missing from your payslip
Arrears from July are common when an order arrives late in the month. The memorandum is dated 21 July 2026, so July's salary may not have carried it. Check the payslips from August onwards for the allowance and any arrears.
If it is still missing, ask your drawing and disbursing officer, the DDO, in writing whether your office was treated as drawing DRA in 2022. If it was and the allowance is missing, the DDO raises it with the accounts office. A dispute about whether your office qualified goes up through your ministry to the Finance Division's Regulations Wing.
While you have the payslip open, staff on the lowest scales should also check for the special allowance for pay below Rs 40,700, which is a separate line.
Provincial employees are not covered by this federal order. The 2022 memorandum only recommended that provinces consider a similar allowance from their own funds, so check your province's finance department notifications.
Common questions
What is the rate of Disparity Reduction Allowance 2026?
15 per cent of basic pay as on 30 June 2022, from 1 July 2026, under the Finance Division memorandum of 21 July 2026.
Who is eligible for DRA 2026?
Federal employees in BPS 1 to 22 who are already receiving Disparity Reduction Allowance, on the existing terms.
Is DRA 2026 counted in pension?
No. Under the terms set in 2022, DRA is not treated as emoluments for pension or gratuity.
Is DRA 2026 on the new pay scales?
No. It is worked on the basic pay of 30 June 2022, not on BPS 2026.
Do provincial employees get DRA 2026?
Not under this order, which is for federal employees. Provinces decide their own allowances.
Is DRA taxable?
Yes. The 2022 terms say it is subject to income tax, and the 2026 order keeps those terms.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 31 October 2026. We read the Finance Division's DRA 2026 memorandum of 21 July 2026, the DRA 2025 memorandum of 4 July 2025, the DRA 2022 memorandum of 23 February 2022, the pay revision memorandum of 21 July 2026 and the clarification of 4 August 2026, all on 31 October 2026. The July 2022 DRA memorandum is a scanned image we could not read. The examples are our own arithmetic.
About the author
Global Affairs & Political Economy Writer
Muhammad Hatim is a book lover who started writing because he enjoys it. At Pakistan Era he writes about international relations, geopolitics and the global economy, with a particular interest in South Asia and the forces behind current events.
