New Delhi: The Centre has clarified that a government employee cannot claim House Rent Allowance (HRA) if their spouse has been allotted official accommodation at the same posting station.
The rule applies when both spouses are central government employees and are serving at the same location.
Centre Explains Rule
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary explained the policy in a written reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha on 4 August.
He said HRA is provided to central government employees who have not received government accommodation. The allowance is intended to compensate them for money spent on renting a house.
Housing Covers Family
According to the Centre, if either spouse receives government accommodation, the entire family is considered to have been provided with official housing.
Therefore, the other spouse is not treated as someone who needs to spend money on rented accommodation. As a result, they become ineligible to receive HRA.
Question Raised
Rajya Sabha MP Sumitra Balmik asked whether the government was considering changes to the existing rule to make it fairer for couples where both spouses are serving government employees.
The question particularly concerned couples who are posted at the same station but where only one spouse has been allotted official accommodation.
No Allowance Permitted
Choudhary clarified that both spouses cannot receive housing-related benefits separately in such circumstances.
Once accommodation is allotted to one spouse, no rental expenditure is presumed to be incurred by the other. Therefore, the second spouse cannot claim HRA even if both are independently employed by the government.
No Review Planned
The Centre also said it had not received any representation seeking a change to the policy.
When asked whether the government intended to reconsider the rule for dual-government-employee households, the minister replied in the negative.
Policy Remains Unchanged
The clarification reaffirms the government’s longstanding position that HRA is a compensatory allowance, rather than an automatic benefit attached to employment.
Eligibility depends on whether an employee needs to pay for residential accommodation. If official housing is available to the family through either spouse at the same station, neither can separately claim HRA.
