Hyderabad: The Telangana govt has announced an increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) employees. Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar confirmed that the DA has been raised by 2.1% for the calendar year 2026.With this revision, the DA has increased from 50.7% to 52.8%. The enhanced rate will be implemented with effect from Jan 1, 2026. The govt also clarified that arrears for the past three months will be paid through supplementary bills, distributed month-wise over the coming three months.Minister said that the DA hike will place an additional financial burden of approximately Rs 2.82 crore per month on the RTC. This is the second such increase in recent times. Earlier, in July 2025, the state govt raised DA by 2.1%, moving it from 48.6% to 50.7%.According to the minister, there are no pending DA dues for employees following the implementation of the RPS-2017 pay revision in May 2024. The latest increase clears the only remaining pending DA component for RTC employees.The govt reiterated that employee welfare and institutional strengthening remain key priorities. Measures cited include hospital upgrades for staff healthcare, compassionate appointments, reinstatement of long-removed employees through review, recruitments, and new buses. RTC MD Y Nagi Reddy described the announcement as a positive development, noting that employees had been awaiting DA revision for a long time.
