DoPT Order on Stepping up of Pay – Now applicable in 7th CPC

Refer the DoPT Order on Stepping up of pay for the Government servants who is having fixed his pay less than his Junior, subject to the following conditions. The Office Memorandum dated 4.11.1993 is reproduced below

DoPT Order on Stepping up of Pay Dated 4.11.1993

No. 4/7/92-Estt.(Pay-I)
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA,
DEPARTMENT CF PERSONNEL & TRAINING

New Delhi the 4-11-1993

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Cases for stepping up of the Pay of Seniors in a pay scale to that of Juniors are generally considered if the following conditions are satisfied : –

(a) both the junior and senior officer should belong to the same cadre and the posts in which they- have been promoted or appointed should be identical and in the same cadre ;

(b) the scales of pay of the lower and higher posts in which the junior and senior officer are entitled to draw pay should be identical;

(c) the anomaly should be directly as a result of the application of FR 22-C. For example, if even in the lower post the junior officer draws from time to time a higher rate of pay than the senior by virtue of grant of advance increments or on any other account the above provisions will not be involved to step up the pay of senior officer.’

Reasons to grant stepping up as per DoPT Order on Stepping up of Pay

Instances have come to the notice of this Department requesting for stepping up of pay due to the following reasons :-

Reasons for Stepping up of Pay

a) where a senior proceeds on Extra Ordinary Leave which results in postponement of Date of next Increment in the lower post, consequently he starts drawing less pay than his junior in the lower grade itself. He, therefore, cannot claim pay parity on promotion even though he may be promoted earlier to the higher grade;

(b) If a senior foregoes/refuses promotion leading to his junior being promoted/appointed to the higher post earlier, junior draws higher pay than the senior. The senior may be on deputation while junior avails of the ad-hoc promotion in the cadre. The increased pay drawn by a junior either due to ad-hoc promotion in the cadre. The increased pay drawn by a junior either, due to ad-hoc officiating/ regular service rendered in the higher posts. for periods earlier than the senior, cannot therefore, be as anomaly in strict sense of the term

(c) If a senior joins the higher post later than the Junior for whatsoever reasons, whereby he draws less pay than the junior, in such cases senior cannot claim stepping up of pay at par with the Junior.

(d) If a senior is appointed later than the Junior in the lower post itself whereby he is in receipt of lesser pay than the junior, in such cases also the senior cannot claim pay parity in the higher post though he may have been promoted earlier to the higher post.

(e) Where a person is promoted from lower to a higher post his pay is fixed with reference to the pay drawn by him in the lower under FR 22-C and he is likely to get more pay than a direct appointee. For example a UDC on promotion to the post of Assistant gets his pay fixed under FR 22-C with reference to the pay drawn in the post of UDC , whereas the pay of Assistant (DR) is fixed normally at the minimum under FR 22-B(2). In such cases the senior direct recruit cannot claim pay parity with the Junior promoted from a lower post to higher post as seniority alone is not a criteria for allowing stepping up.

(f) Where a Junior gets more pay due to additional increments earned on higher qualifications

The DoPT order on Stepping up of Pay in 7th CPC is given here [ Read DoPT Guidelines 26.10.2018]

3. In the instances referred to in paragraph 2 above , a junior drawing more pay than the senior will not constitute an anomaly. In such cases, stepping up of pay will not , therefore , be admissible.

4. In so far as persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department are concerned, these orders have been issued after consultation with the comptroller and Audit general of India.

5. Hindi version will follow

(Mrs. Revathy Iyer)
Deputy Secretary to the Govt of India

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