Can I take LTC on casual leave?

Yes. LTC is admissible during any kind of leave, including casual leave and child care leave. You cannot, however, travel on LTC over a weekend or holiday alone without taking leave.

Can Level 6 to 8 employees travel by air on LTC?

Not normally. Their economy class air entitlement is for official tours only. The exception is the special scheme for the North East, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which runs until 25 September 2028.

I did not use my 2022-2025 LTC. Has it lapsed?

No. Blocks extend automatically by one year, so an unused LTC of the 2022-2025 block can be taken until 31 December 2026, on top of the LTC of the 2026-2029 block. Fresh recruits cannot carry LTC forward.

Can I change my declared home town?

Your home town, once declared and accepted, is treated as final. A change is allowed only in exceptional circumstances, and only once in your entire service.

Are hotel and taxi costs paid under LTC?

No. LTC covers only the fare for your entitled class by the shortest route. Daily allowance, hotel, food and local journeys are not reimbursed.

LTC rules for central government employees

Updated 11 October 2026

Leave Travel Concession (LTC) pays the travel fare for you and your family to visit your home town or any place in India, under the CCS (LTC) Rules, 1988. In the current 2026-2029 block you get two home town journeys, one of which can be swapped for an all-India trip, and you can encash 10 days of earned leave with each LTC. The government pays only the fare for your entitled class: hotels, food and local travel are your own cost.

How LTC blocks work

LTC runs in blocks of four calendar years: 2018-2021, 2022-2025 and now 2026-2029. Each block has two sub-blocks of two years (2026-2027 and 2028-2029) for home town travel.

Home town LTC: once in each two-year sub-block, so twice in the four-year block.
Any place in India: you can use one of those two home town journeys for a trip anywhere in India instead.
Home town same as headquarters: no home town LTC; you get one all-India LTC in the four-year block.
Carry-over: an LTC not used in a block or sub-block can still be taken in the first year of the next one. An unused 2022-2025 LTC can therefore be availed until 31 December 2026.

You become eligible after one year of continuous service. Fresh recruits get more for their first eight years (the first two blocks): home town LTC three times and any place in India once in each block, but no carry-over.

Who counts as family

Family means your spouse, your two eldest surviving unmarried children (including step and adopted children), and parents or step-parents who are wholly dependent on you, whether or not they live with you. Some wholly dependent siblings, and divorced, separated or widowed daughters, also qualify. Wholly dependent means total income, including pension, of not more than the minimum pension of ₹9,000 a month plus dearness relief. Parents-in-law are not covered.

Travel class by pay level

LTC entitlement follows the entitlement for official tours, with one difference: Levels 6 to 8 can fly on official tours but not on LTC.

Pay level	Air	Train	Rajdhani, Shatabdi and similar trains
14 and above	Business or club class	AC First	AC First or Executive class
12 and 13	Economy	AC First	AC First or Executive class
9 to 11	Economy	AC 2-tier	AC 2-tier or AC chair car
6 to 8	Not allowed on LTC	AC 2-tier	AC 2-tier or AC chair car
5 and below	Not allowed	First class, AC 3-tier or AC chair car	AC 3-tier or AC chair car

A DoPT order of 14 January 2025 added Tejas, Vande Bharat and Humsafar trains to Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto. Since 29 August 2022 you can fly any airline, but the ticket must be bought through one of three authorised agents (Balmer Lawrie, Ashok Travels and Tours or IRCTC) at the cheapest fare available in your class. Road journeys are paid only for buses run by the government or a public sector corporation.

Air travel to the North East, J&K, Ladakh and the Andamans

A special scheme lets you convert one home town LTC in a four-year block into a trip to the North East, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh or the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Employees not normally entitled to fly can take economy class from gateway cities: Kolkata or Guwahati for the North East, Kolkata, Chennai or Visakhapatnam for Port Blair, and Delhi or Amritsar for J&K and Ladakh. Fresh recruits get one extra conversion for J&K or Ladakh. A DoPT order of 9 September 2026 extended the scheme from 26 September 2026 to 25 September 2028.

Encashing earned leave with LTC

Each time you take LTC you can encash up to 10 days of earned leave, up to 60 days in your career, as long as at least 30 days of earned leave remain after the encashment and the leave you are taking. Each day is paid at (basic pay + DA) ÷ 30. Days encashed with LTC are not deducted from the 300 days you can encash at retirement (see leave encashment).

Worked example. A Level 7 employee on basic pay of ₹44,900 takes a home town LTC from Delhi to Kochi with his wife and two children, by train in AC 2-tier. Suppose the fare is ₹4,000 per person each way.
Fare reimbursed: 4 people × ₹4,000 × 2 journeys = ₹32,000. He can draw an advance of 90%, which is ₹28,800.
Leave encashment for 10 days: DA at 60% is ₹26,940, so (₹44,900 + ₹26,940) ÷ 30 × 10 = ₹71,840 ÷ 3 = ₹23,947 (rounded).
Total received: ₹32,000 + ₹23,947 = ₹55,947. Under the old tax regime the ₹32,000 fare is exempt and the ₹23,947 is taxed; under the new regime all ₹55,947 is taxable.

Advance, leave and claim deadlines

Advance: up to 90% of the estimated fare for the onward and return journeys.
Leave: LTC can be taken during any kind of leave, including casual leave, but not over a weekend or holiday alone.
Claim: within one month of the return journey if you drew an advance (otherwise the advance is recovered in one go), and within three months if you did not. A late claim is forfeited, though a ministry can accept it up to six months where no advance was taken.
Checks: ministries verify a sample of air tickets with the airlines, and inflated or fake claims lead to disciplinary action.

Rules and orders are on the DoPT website.

Is LTC taxable?

Under the old tax regime, the fare part of LTC is exempt for two journeys in a block of four calendar years, and the current tax block is also 2026-2029. Only the fare by the shortest route within India is exempt, and the exemption does not cover more than two children born after 1 October 1998 (twins at the second birth excepted). Leave encashed with LTC is taxable. Under the new regime, which is the default, LTC is taxed in full. Compare the two in old vs new tax regime, and give your office the travel proof (see Form 12BB) so your TDS reflects the exemption.