Postal Department Bonus 2026: Order issued for 60 days bonus for lakhs of Postal Department employees and GDS, FY 2025-26

Just before the holy festival of Diwali, the much-awaited good news has come to the fore for lakhs of employees and Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) of the Central Government Department of Posts. The Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications has issued an official order to give ‘Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB)’ equal to 60 days’ emoluments to its eligible employees for the financial year 2025-26. After receiving the final financial approval from the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, the Personnel Section (PAP Section) of the Department of Posts issued order no. PP-26/1/2020-PAP This notification has been made effective under.

This announcement has brought a wave of happiness among the MTS, Postman, Mail Guard, Group C and Non-Gazetted Group B regular employees working in the Department of Posts as well as more than 2.5 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) and full-time casual laborers providing postal services in every corner of the country. This one-time incentive amount received during the festive season will provide direct support to the employees in festive shopping and balancing the household budget. Let us understand what is the official mathematics of calculating this 60 day bonus, the maximum amount of money that will come into the account and which employees will get its benefit.

As per the official order issued by the Department of Posts, this 60-day productivity based bonus is mainly divided into three broad categories:

1. Regular Departmental Staff: This includes Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS), Postal Assistant (PA), Sorting Assistant (SA), Mail Guard and all non-gazetted Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ regular employees.

2. Gramin Dak Sevak (GDS): Ex-gratia Bonus will be provided to Gramin Dak Sevaks working regularly across the country as per the rules.

3. Casual Labourers: Ad-hoc Bonus will be paid to full-time casual laborers and temporary status casual workers working in the Postal Department, subject to the prescribed service conditions.

Along with this, it has been clarified in the order that the employees who have retired between April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, who have resigned or who went on deputation inside or outside the department, will also be fully entitled to this bonus in proportion to their active service period.

Bonus in the Postal Department is not calculated on the basis of actual total salary, rather a statutory notional salary limit (Calculation Ceiling) is set by the Finance Ministry. Maximum monthly salary limit for calculation under this order for the year 2025-26 ₹7,000 per month Has been decided.

The official formula for calculating bonus for regular employees is as follows:

$$\text{PLB Bonus} = \frac{\text{Average monthly emoluments (maximum ₹7,000)} \times \text{Total bonus days (60)}}{30.4 \text{ (average days in the month)}}$$

Used in the formula here 30.4 The 365 days of a year divided by 12 months represents the average number of days in a month ($365 / 12 = 30.416$).

How much money will come into the account (Indicative Amount):

If the monthly salary (Basic Pay + DA) of an employee is more than ₹ 7,000 (which is the case for all regular employees today), then only a maximum limit of ₹ 7,000 will be applicable.

$$\text{Bonus amount} = \frac{₹7,000 \times 60}{30.4} = ₹13,815.789$$

After rounding off to the nearest rupee as per Government rules, every eligible regular postal employee shall receive maximum ₹13,816 Bonus amount of Rs. 10,000 will be payable.

The same ratio of bonus calculation has been applied for Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS). If the monthly amount including Time-Related Continuity Allowance (TRCA) and Dearness Allowance (DA) received by GDS exceeds ₹ 7,000, then their calculation will also be based on the maximum ceiling of ₹ 7,000. If a postal servant has served for full 12 months, he should also ₹13,816 Ex-gratia bonus of Rs. Proportionate amount will be given to the servants who get new appointment during the year or who face interruption in service.

Whereas in the case of full-time casual labourers, the per day rate is calculated based on the notional monthly wage rate of ₹ 1,200 and the bonus amount is transferred to their account according to the actual working days done by them in the entire year.

In the official order of the Postal Department, all zonal heads, Chief Postmaster General (CPMG) and financial advisors have been instructed to prepare the bills immediately. This expenditure will be borne from the approved budgetary grant for the current financial year 2026-27. After railway employees got 78 days of PLB bonus, postal employees were also eagerly waiting for this 60-day order. The department is fully prepared to complete the direct electronic transfer (through NEFT/PFMS) of this bonus amount to the salary accounts of all employees and Gramin Dak Sevaks before Diwali, so that the postal family can celebrate Diwali with joy.