In short. A subsistence allowance increase from 50 to 75 per cent of pay is possible under FR 53 once a suspension crosses three months and the delay is not your fault. It is for central government employees whose suspension is dragging on while the chargesheet, inquiry or trial stalls. The authority that suspended you should review the amount before the third month ends; if it has not, write to it now with a dated record of the delay. If it refuses, an appeal lies within 45 days, and the Tribunal after that.
Is this your situation?
- You were suspended more than ten weeks ago and are still drawing half pay with DA on it.
- No chargesheet has been served yet, or one was served but the inquiry has not really started.
- Your suspension was reviewed for continuation, but nobody has passed any order on the allowance itself.
- An order has cut your allowance to 25 per cent, saying you delayed the inquiry.
- You were held in custody for more than 48 hours and the criminal trial is moving slowly.
- Deductions from the allowance leave you with too little to run the house or travel to inquiry hearings.
- You are a Group C employee or MTS, a railway or postal worker, or a defence civilian, and nobody has explained the rule to you.
In short
- Mark the date. Count three months from the date of your suspension order (or from the date of arrest, for deemed suspension) and write it on top of your file.
- Ask before that date. Send a short written request to the suspending authority between the tenth and twelfth week, so the order can run from the first day of the fourth month.
- Show whose delay it is. The increase depends on one question: is the prolonged suspension directly attributable to you or not. Build a dated list that answers it.
- Do not argue the charges in this request. The allowance review is about delay, not guilt; keep your defence for the inquiry.
- Challenge a cut or refusal. An order fixing subsistence allowance is appealable under Rule 23 within 45 days, and the Tribunal can be approached after that.
What the 50 per cent actually is
Subsistence allowance is the money a suspended central government servant gets in place of salary. FR 53(1)(ii)(a) fixes it at the leave salary you would have drawn on half average pay or half pay, plus dearness allowance on that amount. In everyday terms it is half your basic pay with DA worked out on that half, which is why most offices simply call it suspension pay.
Compensatory allowances such as house rent allowance are dealt with separately under FR 53(1)(ii)(b). They are paid on the pay you were drawing on the date of suspension, provided you meet the conditions of each allowance (for example, you are still paying rent for the house). Transport allowance and similar duty-linked payments usually stop because you are not attending office.
The 50 per cent figure is meant to be temporary. Suspension is supposed to be short: a pause while the department decides whether to frame charges and holds the inquiry. The rule makers knew that some cases drag on for months and years, so the proviso to FR 53(1)(ii)(a) gives the suspending authority power to change the amount after the first three months, upward or downward, depending on who is responsible for the delay.
This rule is the same for Group A, B and C employees. A scientist in a CSIR lab and a multi-tasking staff member in a ministry get the same percentage; only the base pay differs. The allowance is only one part of being suspended; our page for a suspended central government employee covers the other decisions you face.
Where the allowance can sit after the first three months
| Situation after three months | Allowance as a share of basic pay | DA | Who decides |
|---|---|---|---|
| First three months of suspension | 50 per cent (half pay or leave salary on half average pay) | On the 50 per cent amount | Fixed by FR 53 itself |
| Suspension prolonged for reasons not directly attributable to you | Can be raised by up to half of the initial amount, so up to 75 per cent | On the increased amount | The authority that made the suspension order, with reasons in writing |
| Suspension prolonged for reasons directly attributable to you | Can be reduced by up to half of the initial amount, so down to 25 per cent | On the reduced amount | Same authority, with reasons in writing |
| No review order passed at all | Stays at 50 per cent by default | On the 50 per cent amount | You can ask for a review; the instructions expect one |
| Later reviews (sixth month, ninth month and so on) | Can be changed again within the 25 to 75 per cent band | On the revised amount | Same authority, at any time on fresh reasons |
The real test: whose fault is the delay?
The proviso does not reward you for being suspended a long time. It asks why the suspension has been prolonged. If the reasons are not directly attributable to you, the authority may increase the amount by up to 50 per cent of what you were getting in the first three months. If the reasons are directly attributable to you, it may reduce the amount by the same margin. Either way the reasons must be recorded in writing.
Old Government of India instructions under FR 53 (an office memorandum of 30 June 1966) explain the idea in plain words: an increase fits a case where the delay is not the employee's doing and he has stopped any dilatory tactics; a reduction fits a case where the delay comes from the employee's dilatory tactics. That is the language the department will use, so frame your request around it.
Delay that is usually not yours: the chargesheet has not been issued; the inquiry officer or presenting officer has not been appointed, or was transferred and not replaced; listed documents have not been supplied; the department's own witnesses do not turn up; the file is sitting with the vigilance branch or the CVC for advice; the criminal court has not framed charges because the prosecution has not completed its side.
Delay the department may pin on you: repeated adjournment requests without documents, refusing to accept notices, not attending hearings, changing your defence assistant again and again, or filing application after application on points already decided. A stay obtained from a court is a grey area. The department often argues that the delay during a stay is yours; you can answer that you used a legal remedy the law gives you, and that the stay was granted because the court saw a case. Expect that point to be argued, not settled in your favour automatically.
When to ask for the subsistence allowance increase
The instructions expect the authority to act before you ask. A 1959 office memorandum under FR 53 requires every suspension likely to go beyond three months to be reviewed before that period ends, and a specific order to be passed with reasons even if the rate is left unchanged. A 1958 memorandum told departments to start the process early so that the revised rate takes effect the day the three months end. The review point itself was shifted from six months to three months by a 1979 memorandum of the Department of Personnel.
In practice, many offices forget. The suspension review under Rule 10(6) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, which decides whether you stay suspended, happens (or should happen) within 90 days, and the subsistence allowance question gets lost under it. They are two different orders. If your suspension was extended without a proper review committee order, read what an extension without a review order means for you; that is a separate and sometimes stronger point.
So the right time to write is around the tenth to twelfth week of suspension. Asking earlier is not wrong, but the authority cannot change the rate for the first three months anyway. Asking much later is still allowed, because reviews can be done at any time after the first one, but you lose the argument that the increase should run from the start of the fourth month.
If you are past the three-month mark already and no order was ever passed, write now. Ask for a review and for the increase to take effect from the date the first three months ended, pointing out that the instructions required a review by then.
A postal inspector in Gorakhpur
Here's a made-up example. Ramesh, an Inspector of Posts in Gorakhpur division, is suspended on 4 March over alleged irregularities in a savings bank audit. His basic pay is Rs 47,600, so his subsistence allowance is Rs 23,800 plus DA on that. By late May no chargesheet has come; the divisional office tells him the vigilance report is awaited from the regional office.
On 26 May he writes to the Superintendent who suspended him, through his immediate officer. The letter is one page. It gives the date of suspension, says no chargesheet has been served, says he has not sought any adjournment because there has been nothing to adjourn, and asks that the allowance be raised under the proviso to FR 53(1)(ii)(a) from 4 June. He attaches a copy of the suspension order and his last pay slip.
A chargesheet is finally served in August. In September an order is passed raising the allowance to 75 per cent of basic pay, that is Rs 35,700 plus DA, but only from the date of the order. Ramesh files an appeal under Rule 23 asking that it run from 4 June, since his request was made in time and the instructions expected the review before the three months ended. How that appeal ends would depend on the appellate authority; the point is that his early letter gave him a dated record to rely on. The figures here are illustrations only.
How to ask, step by step
Most requests fail because they are late, vague or full of anger at the department. Keep it short and factual.
Work out your dates
Take the date in the suspension order (or the date of arrest if the suspension is deemed under Rule 10(2)). Add three months. That is the date from which any change can start. Also note the date of any review order under Rule 10(6).
List what has happened since
Make a two-column list: date and event. Suspension order, any review, chargesheet (or its absence), appointment of inquiry officer, hearing dates and who sought adjournments, letters asking for documents. This list does most of the work.
Write to the suspending authority
Address the authority that made the suspension order, and send it through your controlling officer as the proper channel. Cite the proviso to FR 53(1)(ii)(a), say the suspension has gone past three months, and ask for the allowance to be raised to the maximum for reasons not attributable to you.
Get proof of delivery
Hand it over in person and take a receiving stamp on your copy, or send it by speed post and keep the tracking printout. An email copy to the office address helps but should not be the only proof.
Follow up in writing
If nothing happens in four to six weeks, send a short reminder quoting the date of your first letter. Do not send a fresh long representation each time; repeated representations do not stop the clock for a later case.
Appeal if refused or cut
An order fixing the subsistence allowance for the suspension period is appealable under Rule 23(v)(d). File within 45 days of receiving the order (Rule 25), addressed to the appellate authority, with a copy to the authority that passed it.
Go to the Tribunal if needed
A rejected appeal, or one left pending for six months, opens the door to the Central Administrative Tribunal. The case is filed as an Original Application under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.
If the department has not paid even the basic 50 per cent on time, say that first and separately. Non-payment is a more urgent problem than the rate, and the instructions treat it seriously.
What to write, and what to leave out
The request is not a defence statement. You do not need to explain why you are innocent, and you should not. Anything you say about the facts can be read back to you in the inquiry. Stick to dates, events and the rule.
Advocate B.K. Singh's first tip is to attach the dated list of events as a separate sheet and refer to each entry by its serial number in the letter. Officers deciding these requests rarely read long paragraphs; a sheet that shows, line by line, that every adjournment came from the department side is far harder to brush aside than a page of complaints.
Avoid accusing the inquiry officer or the vigilance officer of bias in the same letter. If you have a bias complaint, it goes in a separate application to the right authority. Mixing them makes your allowance request look like part of a quarrel, and the reply will focus on the quarrel.
Mention any hardship plainly: school fees, a sick parent, a home loan EMI. Hardship is not the legal test, but it is a fair reason for the authority to act on time rather than at leisure.
Papers to keep ready
For the request to the suspending authority
- Suspension order and any order extending it after review
- Last pay slip before suspension and the latest subsistence allowance slip
- Chargesheet, if served, with date of receipt
- Your dated list of events since suspension
- Copies of letters asking for documents or hearing dates
- Proof of delivery of every letter you send
For an appeal or a Tribunal case
- The order on the allowance, or proof that none was passed
- Your original request and reminders with receiving stamps
- Order sheets of the inquiry showing who sought adjournments
- Non-employment certificates you have given under FR 53(2)
- Any RTI reply about the status of the case
- Identity proof and a vakalatnama if a lawyer will appear
If the order cuts you to 25 per cent
A reduction to 25 per cent is the other side of the same proviso. It needs recorded reasons showing the delay is directly attributable to you. Ask for a copy of the order with reasons if you only received a pay slip showing the lower figure; a cut that appears in the salary software without any written order is open to challenge on that ground alone.
Then test the reasons against the record. If the order says you sought adjournments, check the order sheets. Were they for a medical reason, with a certificate? Were they because listed documents had not been given to you? Did the department also seek adjournments? An inquiry order sheet often tells a different story from the one in the reduction order.
The reduction is appealable under Rule 23(v)(d), within 45 days. Your appeal should attach the order sheets and your letters, and ask that the original rate be restored from the date of the cut. If you have in fact been slow (it happens, often on bad advice), say that you will cooperate from now on and ask for a fresh review after a fixed period. Authorities do restore the rate when the delay stops.
A reduced allowance also matters for the inquiry itself. If the cut leaves you unable to travel for hearings, put that in writing to the inquiry officer before the next date.
Unpaid allowance and an inquiry held without you
In Ghanshyam Das Srivastava v. State of Madhya Pradesh (1973), the Supreme Court set aside an ex parte inquiry where the employee could not attend because his subsistence allowance had not been paid and he had no money to travel. The Court treated this as a denial of the reasonable opportunity promised by Article 311(2). Later, in Capt. M. Paul Anthony v. Bharat Gold Mines (1999), the Court again held that non-payment of subsistence allowance can vitiate the proceedings.
Government instructions under FR 53 (office memoranda of 1976 and 1985) tell departments to pay subsistence allowance promptly and regularly, and to check, before going ahead ex parte, that the employee's absence is not caused by non-payment. If your inquiry has gone ahead without you in such a situation, see what can still be done after an ex parte inquiry.
The practical lesson: if you cannot attend because the money has not come, write to the inquiry officer before the hearing and say so, with dates of non-payment. A letter written afterwards carries less weight.
Deductions from suspension pay
Even at 75 per cent, the money in hand can be thin because of deductions. The FR 53 instructions divide them into three groups. Compulsory deductions include income tax (where the allowance is taxable), house rent and allied charges for government accommodation, repayment of loans and advances at a rate fixed by the head of department, CGHS contribution and the group insurance subscription.
Some deductions need your written consent: Postal Life Insurance premia, dues to cooperative stores and credit societies, and refund of GPF advances. If these are being cut without consent, write and withdraw or refuse consent.
Some deductions should not be made at all: GPF subscription, court attachments and recovery of losses to the government for which you are said to be responsible. Recovery of an old overpayment may be kept in abeyance, or, if made, should not exceed one-third of the subsistence allowance (excluding DA and other compensatory allowances). Check your slip against this list; offices make mistakes here more often than people think.
The allowance is paid only after you give a certificate that you are not engaged in any other employment, business, profession or vocation, as FR 53(2) requires. Our guide on the non-employment certificate during suspension explains how to give it and what happens if you forget.
Railway, postal, defence civilian and other staff
Railway employees are covered by the equivalent rule in the Indian Railway Establishment Code, which follows FR 53 closely, and by the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1968 for appeals. The appeal limit there is also 45 days. Raise the request with the authority that suspended you, usually the divisional officer named in the order.
Gramin Dak Sevaks are not suspended on pay in the same way. Their rules provide for being put off duty with a fixed ex gratia amount. If you are a GDS, read about ex gratia while put off duty instead; FR 53 percentages do not apply to you.
Civilian employees in defence establishments, ordnance units and military engineering offices are governed by FR 53 and the CCS (CCA) Rules like other central staff, and their cases go to the CAT. CAPF personnel get subsistence allowance under the same broad rule, but their service disputes go to the High Court, not the Tribunal. Employees of public sector undertakings, banks and many autonomous bodies follow their own conduct and discipline rules, which may use different percentages; check your organisation's rules first.
For deemed suspension after arrest, the same three-month review applies. Where the delay is in the criminal court and not of your making, that is a fair ground for the increase. The page on deemed suspension after 48 hours in custody covers getting back to work.
How long each stage takes and what it costs
| Stage | Usual time frame | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Review by suspending authority | Should happen before three months end; in practice anywhere from a few weeks to several months after a request | Nothing beyond postage and copies |
| Reminder and follow-up | Four to six weeks after the first request | Nothing |
| Appeal under Rule 23 | File within 45 days of the order; decisions often take one to six months | No fee |
| Original Application before the CAT | After the appeal is rejected, or after six months without a decision; within one year under Section 21 | A small fixed fee (Rs 50 under Rule 7 of the CAT (Procedure) Rules; check the current figure), plus lawyer's fees agreed in writing |
| Interim direction from the Tribunal | May be asked for when the OA is first listed; the bench decides on the facts | Part of the same OA |
Taking it to the Tribunal
The CAT can hear a dispute over a refused increase or a cut to 25 per cent; it is a service matter like any other pay question. The Tribunal will usually ask whether you appealed first, because Section 20 of the Administrative Tribunals Act wants departmental remedies used before an OA. Once the appeal is rejected, or six months pass with no answer, the Section 19 application can go in. Section 21 then gives you a year, counted from the rejection or from the day those six months ran out.
The right bench is normally the one covering your place of posting, or the place where the order was made. So a suspended clerk at a Delhi ministry files at the Principal Bench on Copernicus Marg, while an auditor suspended in Lucknow files at the Lucknow Bench. Our page on filing an Original Application under Section 19 explains the papers and steps.
Most suspended employees who come to the Tribunal over subsistence allowance are also challenging the suspension itself. That is sensible: if the suspension is invalid, the allowance question may disappear. The grounds for ending a suspension are set out in our guide on asking for revocation of suspension, which is worth reading alongside this one.
What happens to the money when the case ends
Reinstatement brings a second, separate decision: FR 54-B requires the competent authority to say how the months of suspension will be treated, both for money and for service. Full exoneration, or a finding that the suspension was wholly unjustified, means full pay and allowances for the whole period, with the subsistence allowance already drawn adjusted against it. In other cases the authority fixes a proportion, but only after a notice to you and a look at your reply.
FR 54-B also sets a floor: whatever proportion is fixed, it cannot fall below the subsistence allowance and other allowances that were admissible to you. In plain words, money properly paid as subsistence allowance is not taken back just because you later receive a penalty. That is one more reason to push for the increase while the case is running: the higher amount is yours to keep.
A dismissal or removal at the end of the case does not usually lead to recovery of the allowance already paid. Should that dismissal be quashed later in appeal or by the Tribunal, the period is decided afresh under FR 54 or FR 54-A, and the route depends on the reason it was quashed.
Mistakes that cost suspended employees money
- Waiting for the office to act. The review is supposed to happen on its own. Often it does not, and months pass at 50 per cent.
- Writing only to the head office. The order has to come from the authority that suspended you. A letter to the minister or the CVC does not substitute for one to that authority through proper channel.
- Seeking adjournments casually. Every adjournment you ask for, even for a good reason, can be counted against you later. Ask only when needed, and always attach the reason in writing.
- Missing the 45 days. Advocate B.K. Singh's second tip is to diarise the date you received any order on the allowance and treat day 30 as your own deadline for the appeal, not day 45. Late appeals can be condoned, but the explanation has to be convincing.
- Not checking the slip. GPF subscription being deducted, DA worked on the wrong base, HRA stopped without reason: these are common errors and easy to fix if raised early.
If your three months are nearly up
Take out the suspension order today and count the dates. If you are in the tenth week or beyond, prepare your list of events and send a short request to the suspending authority this week. If the suspension itself looks open to challenge, raise that at the same time; our suspension service page explains how the two fit together. If an order has already reduced your allowance, the 45-day appeal period is running.
The questions on suspension, arrest and subsistence allowance cover smaller points. For advice on your own suspension papers, or for updates on changes to these rules, you can contact Advocate B.K. Singh.
Frequently asked questions
Is a subsistence allowance increase automatic after three months?
No. The authority that suspended you has to pass an order with recorded reasons. Government instructions expect it to review the amount before the three months end, but if it does not, the allowance stays at 50 per cent until you ask or it acts.
Can subsistence allowance be more than 75 per cent of pay?
Under FR 53 the increase is capped at half of the amount paid in the first three months, so the maximum is 75 per cent of basic pay, plus DA on that. Compensatory allowances like HRA are worked out separately.
Can my suspension pay be cut without any notice?
FR 53 requires the reasons for a reduction to be recorded in writing. If your slip shows a lower amount with no written order, ask for the order and its reasons, and appeal under Rule 23 within 45 days of receiving it.
Does a court stay count as delay caused by me?
Departments often argue that it does. You can answer that you used a legal remedy and that the court found reason to grant the stay. The outcome depends on the facts and on how the stay came about.
Is DA paid on subsistence allowance?
Yes. Dearness allowance is paid on the subsistence allowance at the current rate, and when the allowance is raised or reduced, DA is recalculated on the new amount.
Do I have to return subsistence allowance if I am punished?
Generally no. FR 54-B keeps the payment for the suspension period at or above the subsistence allowance that was admissible, so a penalty on its own is not a reason to recover what was properly paid.
Can I take a part-time job while suspended to make up the shortfall?
No. FR 53(2) makes payment conditional on a certificate that you are not in any other employment, business, profession or vocation. Taking up work can stop the allowance and may lead to a fresh charge.
Who decides a subsistence allowance appeal?
Rule 24 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, read with the schedule or orders for your post, names the appellate authority. In most offices it is the officer immediately above the one who suspended you. Address the appeal to that officer and send a copy to whoever passed the allowance order.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court and other High Courts, the Central Administrative Tribunal and other tribunals. This guide was written and reviewed by his team.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.
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