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In the festive season of Diwali, the Central Government has issued a formal order for Diwali Bonus for the financial year 2025-26, giving huge financial support to lakhs of employees. The Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance has issued the official Office Memorandum of Non-Productivity Linked Bonus i.e. Ad-hoc Bonus after the approval of the President. Since this announcement, there has been an increased curiosity among the employees working in Central Secretariats, Autonomous Institutions, Security Forces and various departments to know which employees will get the actual benefit of this bonus scheme and who have been kept out of this scope. Lakhs of employees from central institutions in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, railway divisions, postal circles and Central Ordnance Depot to ministries in Delhi are waiting for this payment, so that this amount can be deposited in their bank accounts before the festival.
According to the order of the Department of Expenditure, the main benefit of this 30-day Non-Productivity Linked (Ad-hoc) Bonus will be given to all Group ‘C’ (Group C) employees of the Central Government and all those non-gazetted employees of Group ‘B’ (Non-Gazetted Group B) who are not covered under any type of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) scheme. Clerks, multi-tasking staff (MTS), stenographers, section assistants and administrative cadre employees in central ministries who do not get productivity-based bonuses are all direct beneficiaries of this arrangement. Gazetted Officers have been completely excluded from this ad-hoc bonus scheme.
Keeping in mind the dignity of the soldiers deployed in border and internal security, the Central Government has also included eligible personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Indian Armed Forces equally in this scheme. Under this, non-gazetted personnel of CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles and qualified personnel of defense forces will be able to avail the benefit of this 30 days ad-hoc bonus. Additionally, those employees of Union Territories (UTs) who follow the pay scale structure of the Central Government and are not availing the benefit of any other state level or special bonus scheme will also be eligible for this payment.
The Finance Ministry has laid down some strict and clear rules to decide the eligibility of bonus:
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To be in service as on 31st March 2026: Under the general eligibility rules, it is mandatory for the employee to be active in service on 31 March 2026.
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Minimum 6 months continuous service: The employee concerned must have completed at least 6 months of continuous service during the financial year 2025-26. Employees whose service period is between 6 months to 1 year will be given bonus amount on pro-rata basis.
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Retirement and Special Humanitarian Affairs: If an employee has retired on superannuation before March 31, 2026, has been discharged on the grounds of medical invalidation, or has died untimely during service, he will also be given the benefit of proportionate bonus on completion of at least 6 months of service.
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No-Bonus on Resignation: If an employee has given voluntary resignation from the post before 31 March 2026, then he will not be entitled to this bonus.
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Rule of Deputation: Central employees who are on deputation to State Governments, UT Administrations or Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) will not get this bonus from the parent department, but their bonus will be decided on the basis of rules applicable in the organization in which they are working.
The maximum limit of monthly salary (Calculation Ceiling) for calculating the ad-hoc bonus of the Central Government has been fixed at ₹ 7,000 per month. Even if an employee’s basic pay after the 7th Pay Commission is ₹18,000 or ₹35,000, the bonus is calculated at the statutory ceiling of ₹7,000.
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One Day Bonus: ₹7,000 ÷ 30.4 (average days of the month) = ₹230.26
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Total Bonus Payable for 30 Days: ₹230.26 × 30 = ₹6,907.89
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Final Payment: Rounding off to the nearest rupee works out to be ₹6,908.
If an employee’s monthly emoluments are less than ₹7,000, it is calculated on the actual salary. Whereas for employees with proportionate service, it is divided pro-rata based on the number of months.
The ministry has also given the right to bonus to daily wage and casual workers working in government offices. In offices where work is 6 days a week, the casual worker must have worked for at least 240 days every year in the last 3 years. This minimum attendance in offices with a 5-day week has been fixed at 206 days per year. A one-time bonus of ₹1,184 has been approved for such eligible workers based on a notional monthly ceiling of ₹1,200.
A large section among the central employees is from Indian Railways and Department of Posts. Employees of both these departments are given ‘Productivity Linked Bonus’ (PLB) instead of non-PLB (ad-hoc) bonus. The Ministry of Railways provides 78 days’ bonus to its non-gazetted railway employees, reaching a maximum of ₹17,951, subject to a ceiling of ₹7,000. At the same time, Group ‘C’, Multi-Tasking Staff and Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) of the Postal Department get 60 days PLB bonus, which works out to ₹ 13,816. The orders of these two departments are issued separately by the respective ministries.
The Department of Expenditure has directed all Central Ministries and Financial Advisors to meet the expenditure on bonus only from within the approved budget provisions for the current financial year 2026-27. This amount will be transferred directly to the salary account of the employees through electronic transfer (PFMS). This bonus is completely considered a part of the salary income and TDS and tax are applicable on it as per the rules as per the respective tax slab of the employee. Amidst the expenses of Dhanteras and Diwali, this timely approval of the government is sure to increase the festive enthusiasm in the families of lakhs of employees.