Night duty allowance (NDA) for central government employees
Updated 11 October 2026
Night duty allowance (NDA) pays extra for work done between 10 pm and 6 am. Each hour of night duty earns 10 minutes of weightage, paid at an hourly rate of (basic pay + DA) ÷ 200. Under the DoPT OM of 13 July 2020, in force from 1 July 2017, only employees whose basic pay is ₹43,600 or less are eligible, though the Railways relaxed this for their own staff in 2022.
Who is eligible
- Pay ceiling: basic pay of up to ₹43,600 a month, checked on the date of the night duty.
- Essential duty: the night duty must be certified by the supervisory officer as essential.
- No double benefit: where working hours already give weightage for night work, NDA is not paid on top.
- Coverage: the formula applies across ministries and departments to posts that were already getting NDA. The Railways and some other departments issue their own orders for their staff.
Because the test is basic pay, not level, most employees in Levels 1 to 5 qualify for much of their service, as does Level 6 up to the ₹43,600 cell. Level 7 starts at ₹44,900, above the ceiling. Long-serving staff even in Level 1 eventually cross ₹43,600 through increments. Railway staff have a wider rule, explained below.
How NDA is calculated
- Hourly rate = (basic pay + DA) ÷ 200.
- Weightage = 10 minutes for each hour of night duty, so 6 hours of night duty earn 1 hour of NDA.
- NDA = night duty hours ÷ 6 × hourly rate.
NDA is worked out for each employee on the basic pay and DA of the day of duty, so it rises with every DA hike and increment, until the ceiling is crossed. Only the hours between 10 pm and 6 am count. A shift from 8 pm to 4 am has 6 night hours, which earn 1 hour of NDA; at basic pay of ₹35,400 and 60% DA that is ₹283.20 for the shift.
| Basic pay | Hourly rate at 60% DA | NDA for one 8-hour night |
|---|---|---|
| ₹18,000 | ₹144.00 | ₹192.00 |
| ₹25,500 | ₹204.00 | ₹272.00 |
| ₹35,400 | ₹283.20 | ₹377.60 |
| ₹43,600 | ₹348.80 | ₹465.07 |
| ₹44,900 or more | Not eligible | |
Worked examples
Basic + DA: ₹35,400 + ₹21,240 = ₹56,640.
Hourly rate: ₹56,640 ÷ 200 = ₹283.20.
Night hours: 10 × 8 = 80. Weightage: 80 × 10 minutes = 800 minutes, or 13 hours 20 minutes (80 ÷ 6 = 13.33 hours).
NDA: ₹283.20 × 80 ÷ 6 = ₹3,776 for the month.
A Level 4 employee on ₹25,500 doing 15 such nights: hourly rate (₹25,500 + ₹15,300) ÷ 200 = ₹204; night hours 120; NDA = ₹204 × 120 ÷ 6 = ₹4,080.
What changed in 2020
Before the 2020 order, the NDA rules went back to orders of 1989 and 1994, and in practice everyone in the same grade pay was paid at the same rate. The DoPT OM of 13 July 2020 replaced those orders for the 7th CPC period: NDA is now calculated for each employee on actual basic pay and DA, the weightage is a uniform 10 minutes per night hour, and eligibility is limited to basic pay of up to ₹43,600. The order took effect from 1 July 2017, the date from which 7th CPC allowances apply.
Checking your NDA
- Count only the hours between 10 pm and 6 am in your duty roster, not the whole shift.
- Check the basic pay used. After an increment on 1 January or 1 July, or a promotion, night duty is paid on the new pay, and an increment can take you over ₹43,600.
- Check the DA rate used, since NDA follows DA.
- Make sure your supervisor has certified the night duty as essential; uncertified hours are not paid.
Why the ₹43,600 ceiling matters
Under the general order the ceiling works as a cut-off. When an employee at ₹43,600 in Level 6 gets an increment to ₹44,900, basic pay rises by ₹1,300 and DA by ₹780, a total of ₹2,080 a month, but NDA stops altogether. For someone doing 10 night shifts a month that is a loss of about ₹4,651 (10 × ₹465.07), so the increment leaves them worse off.
The Railways, where night work is common, changed this for their own staff after the unions objected. A Railway Board order of 21 July 2022 (RBE No. 85/2022), issued with Finance Ministry approval, allows NDA to all eligible non-gazetted railway employees up to Level 7, and to Level 8 staff who reached it through MACP, provisionally from 4 July 2022. For them ₹43,600 is a cap on the pay used for the hourly rate, not a cut-off: a railway employee on ₹50,500 is paid NDA as if basic pay were ₹43,600. Other departments follow the 2020 cut-off unless their own orders say otherwise, and allowances as a whole are up for review by the 8th Pay Commission.
Tax and pay slip
NDA is part of your salary and fully taxable in both regimes. It is usually paid as a separate line on the pay slip for the month after the duty is certified (see salary slip components). It does not count for pension, gratuity or leave encashment, which are worked out on basic pay (plus DA for gratuity and leave encashment). The DoPT order is available on the DoPT website.