Last Updated on August 6, 2025 by Galaxy World
I am writing in detail about the increase in the Rental Ceiling of House Hiring and HRA for the Government employees. The Basic question is if the Government increases the Rental Ceiling for hiring, then why not House Rent Allowance for the Government employees? While these two facilities/allowances are based on the same requirement of the employees, that is, accommodation. The details are as follows:
Why Increase in the Rental Ceiling of House Hiring and HRA?
There is a chance that the Federal Government may increase the Rental Ceiling hiring for the accommodation of Government employees. The Hiring facility is granted in the following cities of Pakistan:
- Lahore
- Karachi
- Quetta
- Peshawar
- Rawalpindi
- Islamabad
In many departments, the employees living and doing jobs in the above cities apply for the rental celling of hiring on joining the department. Some departments provide hiring just on joining, while in others, the employees have to wait for their number to be granted the facility of hiring. Many employees may have to wait for the hiring facility for months or even years. During this period, they get the facility of House Rent Allowance. The rates of HRA and Hiring are different at a large scale.
On the other hand, the employees living in other cities, rather than the above-mentioned cities, don’t have the facility of House Rental Ceiling of Hiring. They just have to get a minor amount of House Rent Allowance.
Comparison of House Rent Allowance and Rental Ceiling of Hiring Existing Rates
45% of the Initial Basic Pay of the 2008 Pay Scales + 50%
| BPS | House Rent Allowance (HRA) Rs. |
| BPS-01 | 2006 |
| BPS-02 | 2049 |
| BPS-03 | 2120 |
| BPS-04 | 2187 |
| BPS-05 | 2255 |
| BPS-06 | 2316 |
| BPS-07 | 2384 |
| BPS-08 | 2474 |
| BPS-09 | 2579 |
| BPS-10 | 2670 |
| BPS-11 | 2778 |
| BPS-12 | 2940 |
| BPS-13 | 3135 |
| BPS-14 | 3321 |
| BPS-15 | 3524 |
| BPS-16 | 4091 |
| BPS-17 | 6650 |
| BPS-18 | 8715 |
30% of the Initial Basic Pay of the 2008 Pay Scales + 50%
| Basic Pay Scale No | HRA (30%) |
| BPS-01 | 1337 |
| BPS-02 | 1367 |
| BPS-03 | 1413 |
| BPS-04 | 1458 |
| BPS-05 | 1503 |
| BPS-06 | 1544 |
| BPS-07 | 1589 |
| BPS-08 | 1650 |
| BPS-09 | 1719 |
| BPS-10 | 1781 |
| BPS-11 | 1853 |
| BPS-12 | 1961 |
| BPS-13 | 2091 |
| BPS-14 | 2214 |
| BPS-15 | 2349 |
| BPS-16 | 2727 |
| BPS-17 | 4433 |
| BPS-18 | 5810 |
Rates Rental Ceiling (Effective from 01-07-2021)
| Rates of Rental Ceiling of Hiring wef 1st July 2021 | ||
| BPS | Islamabad | Other Specified Stations |
| BPS-01 to BPS-02 | Rs. 7029/- | Rs. 6591/- |
| BPS-03 to BPS-06 | Rs. 10980/- | Rs. 9654/- |
| BPS-07 to BPS-10 | Rs. 16403/- | Rs. 14682/- |
| BPS-11 to BPS-13 | Rs. 24744/- | Rs. 21462/- |
| BPS-14 to BPS-16 | Rs. 37185/- | Rs. 32242/- |
| BPS-17 to BPS-18 | Rs. 41147/- | Rs. 35804/- |
| BPS-19 | Rs. 54704/- | Rs. 48442/- |
| BPS-20 | Rs. 68700/- | Rs. 59079/- |
| BPS-21 | Rs. 82261/- | Rs. 70823/- |
| BPS-22 | Rs. 98444/- | Rs. 89230/- |
History of HRA and Rental Ceiling of Hiring
I have already shared the History of House Rent Allowance (HRA) in a previous period. The government increased the house rent allowance for the last time in 2018. These new house rent allowance rates were a 50% increase on the existing rates of HRA. The existing rates of HRA are based on the initial Revised Pay Scales 2008. Before this, the Federal Government also increased the House Rent Allowance in 2007. However, on the other hand, the Government has increased the rental ceiling for hiring many times. In 2018, both HRA and Hiring were increased, while in 2021, the Government increased only the rental ceiling of hiring. Finance Division issued the Notification of Increase House Rent Allowance 2018 on 2nd July 2018. This was not justice for all the employees in 2021. If the Government increased Hiring rates, then it should also increase the House Rent Allowance. Now this is the time that the government may have equal rights for all employees. Government should also increase the rates of House Rent Allowance while increasing the Rental Ceiling for hiring employees.
Summing Up /Request of All Govt Employees
If we look at any pay scale, there is a huge difference in HRA and hiring rates even for those employees living in six specified stations. For example, if we look at the BPS-16 employees, he is getting HRA @ 2727 / 4091 while the same scale employee is getting a rental ceiling of hiring @ 37,185 / 32242 per month. While they are performing duties and living at the same station. The government should reduce the big gap of difference of HRA and the Rental Ceiling of Hiring. On the other hand, we can say that if the Government increases the rental ceiling for hiring, it should also increase the rates of House Rent Allowance. It is not possible for an employee to get a house on rent even in a village for just 2727/-. This example is for BPS-16, while the employees of lower pay scales are getting less HRA.
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