Can married central government employees claim HRA while living in official housing?

Can both spouses working for the Central Government claim HRA while staying in Government accommodation? A recent reply in Parliament has made the position clear.The Centre has made it clear that there is no plan to change the existing House Rent Allowance (HRA) rules for married Central Government employees living together in Government accommodation. The clarification came in Parliament after a question was raised on whether the policy would be reviewed to make it fairer for such couples.NO PROPOSAL TO CHANGE THE HRA POLICYIn a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the Government has not proposed any change to the current HRA rules.The reply came in response to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Sumitra Balmik, who sought to know whether the Government planned to review the policy for husband-wife couples who are both Central Government employees and live together in Government accommodation.The Government's response was brief and clear: there is no proposal to revise the existing policy. WHY HRA IS NOT PAID IN SUCH CASESThe Finance Ministry explained that House Rent Allowance is meant for Central Government employees who are not provided Government accommodation. The allowance is intended to help employees meet the cost of renting a house.However, when both spouses are Central Government employees and are stationed at the same station and one of them has been allotted Government accommodation, the family is considered to have already been provided official housing. As a result, the Government says no expenditure is being incurred on rented accommodation by the other spouse. Therefore, HRA is not payable in such cases.NO REQUESTS RECEIVED TO REVIEW THE RULEThe Government also informed Parliament that it has not received any representations from Government employees or employee associations seeking a reconsideration of the policy.When asked whether it planned to review the rule to make it more equitable for couples where both spouses are Government employees, the Finance Ministry simply replied, "No."Since there is no proposal under consideration, the question of further details did not arise.EXISTING RULES WILL CONTINUEThe latest clarification means there will be no change in HRA eligibility for married Central Government employees living in Government accommodation.For now, the existing rule remains in force: if one spouse has been allotted Government accommodation and the couple lives there together, the other spouse is not entitled to receive House Rent Allowance.- EndsPublished By: Jasmine anandPublished On: Aug 6, 2026 11:52 IST