West Bengal 50% Dearness Relief Arrears: The West Bengal government has decided to give some quick relief to pensioners and family pensioners in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area. According to an official notification, the state will release 50% of the pending Dearness Relief arrears through banks as an “interim measure”.
The move is meant to help people who have been waiting a long time because the old bank records were not fully verified. PTI reported that the government is also waiting for proper details of past pension payments from the banks before it clears the rest.
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The notification says the payment will cover the estimated arrears for the period from 2008 to 2019 for pensioners and family pensioners who receive pension through different banks in the KMC area. The state government has taken this step because the missing or unverified historical records made the full payment process slow. A senior official told PTI that the aim is to stop pensioners from waiting any longer because of paperwork delays.
How the Arrears will be worked out?
The estimated Dearness Relief arrears will not be guessed at random. They will be worked out using data available with the Accountant General, West Bengal. The finance department will also use the DR rates fixed during the ROPA 2009 period, covering 1 April 2008 to 31 December 2019, along with the linked All India Consumer Price Index formula. The state has also created a Bank Pension Management Portal under the West Bengal Integrated Financial Management System, or WBiFMS, to make the process smoother.
Banks have been asked to verify and update pensioners’ details on this portal and then credit the admissible amount straight into their bank accounts. The government has also told banks to send validated details of pension payments made during the ROPA 2009 years so the remaining arrears can be calculated and paid later. The official notification says the rules for paying the leftover amount will be announced separately.
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DA Hike came Earlier
This relief comes after the state had already announced a 20% increase in Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief on 22 June 2026. The new rate raised DA and DR to 38% from the earlier 18%, with effect from 1 October 2026. News reports said this also reduced the gap between West Bengal employees and central government employees by 22 percentage points.
