WB DA Arrear: West Bengal Government Reverses Installment Plan, Orders Full Payment by March 31

WB DA Arrear: In a massive development for the serving and retired employees of the West Bengal Government, the Finance Department has released a significant corrigendum regarding the long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) arrears. According to the newly published Corrigendum No. 1086-F(P2) dated 23rd March 2026, the state government will now disburse the entire arrear amount for the period from January 2016 to December 2019 by March 31, 2026.

What Changes with Order 1086-F(P2)?

Earlier this month, through notifications 996-F(P2) and 997-F(P2) dated 13th March 2026, the government had announced that the DA/DR arrears for Jan 2016 to Dec 2019 would be paid in two equal installments—the first in March 2026 and the second in September 2026. However, modifying these prior notifications, the new corrigendum ensures that no partial payments will be made. Instead, 100% of the arrears (calculated as per AICPI) will be cleared in a single go by March 31, 2026. The distribution of these arrears comes as a follow-up to the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgment dated 5th February 2026 in SLP (Civil) No. 22628-22630/2022, which addressed the DA issue for employees governed by the WB ROPA Rules, 2009.

How Will the DA Arrears be Disbursed?

The government has outlined distinct modalities for different categories of employees and pensioners:

• Serving Group A, B, and C Employees: The arrear amount will be directly credited to their respective General Provident Fund (GPF) accounts. This credited amount shall remain locked and cannot be withdrawn or reckoned for calculating admissible advances for 24 months from the date of credit, or until superannuation, death, or resignation, whichever is earlier.
• Group D Employees & Pensioners: Serving Group D employees, current pensioners, and family pensioners will receive their DA/DR arrears in cash, which will be credited directly to their bank accounts.
• Deceased Employees: The legal heirs or LTA nominees of deceased employees are eligible to receive the arrears for the respective service or pension period. This will be disbursed by the concerned Treasury, Bank, or Pension Sanctioning Authority (PSA).
• Former/Resigned Employees: Employees who resigned from service but had rendered qualifying service between 2016 and 2019 are also entitled to receive the admissible Arrear DA. They must submit an application to their last Head of Office (HOO) for verification of their claims.

HRMS-WBiFMS Processing Guidelines for DDOs

To ensure smooth execution, Memorandum No. 1029-F(eGov) dated 16th March 2026 provides a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs). DDOs are mandated to draw the arrear bills using the HRMS Module of WBiFMS. Employee-wise arrear statements are automatically generated under the “Arrear/Supplementary -> Tasklist” menu. For GPF transfers, TR Form 47 will be generated alongside the bill, while a ‘Beneficiary List’ will be generated for Group D and pensioners to facilitate direct bank transfers.