Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) | Eligibility | Calculation | Points
What is the full form of VDA?
The full form of VDA is ‘Variable Dearness Allowance’.
What is VDA in salary?
The VDA is being granted to the employees categorized in the list of the Minimum Wages Act 1948. At present, 40 types of scheduled employment are listed in the category. The employees work in specified employments, such as mines, oilfields, and major ports, and also in Railway administration. The Variable Dearness allowance is revised twice a year with effect from 1st April and 1st October according to the Consumer Price Index.
What is the difference between DA and VDA?
DA (Dearness Allowance) is paid for regular Central Government employees including Railways, Armed Forces Personnel. But the VDA (Variable Dearness Allowance) is paid to the employees working in the unorganized sectors under categories in the Minimum Wages Act 1948.
Types of Dearness Allowance
- Dearness Allowance: Central Govt Employees including Railways and Armed Forces Personnel
- Industrial Dearness Allowance: Public Sector Employees of Central Govt
- Variable Dearness Allowance: Specified Category Workers under the Minimum Wage Act
The list of categories of employees eligible for VDA Revision:
Category 1: The minimum rates of wages including the basic rates and Variable Dearness Allowance payable to the employees working in Agriculture
Category 2: Rates of Variable Dearness Allowance for employees employed in employments in Gypsum Mines, Barytes Mines, Bauxite Mines, Manganese Mines, China Clay Mines, Kyanite Mines, Copper Mines, Clay Mines, Magnesite Mines, White Clay Mines, Stone Mines, Steatite Mines (including the mines producing Soap Stones and Talc), Ochre Mines, Asbestos Mines, Fire Clay Mines, Chromite Mines, Quartzite Mines, Quartz Mines, Silica Mines, Graphite Mines, Felspar Mines, Laterite Mines, Dolomite Mines, Red Oxide Mines, Wolfram Mines Iron Ore Mines, Granite Mines Rock Phosphate Mines, Hematite Mines, Marble and Calcite Mines, Uranium Mines, Mica Mines, Lignite Mines, Gravel Mines, Slate Mines, and Magnetite Mines.
Category 3: The rates of Variable Dearness Allowance for workers employed in the CONSTRUCTION OR MAINTENANCE OF ROADS OR RUNWAYS OR IN BUILDING OPERATIONS INCLUDING LAYING DOWN UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC, WIRELESS, RADIO, TELEVISION, TELEPHONE, TELEGRAPH, AND OVERSEAS COMMUNICATION CABLES, AND SIMILAR OTHER UNDERGROUND CABLING WORK, ELECTRIC LINES, WATER SUPPLY LINES, AND SEWERAGE PIPE LINES.
Category 4: RATES OF V.D.A.FOR EMPLOYEES EMPLOYED
Category 5: RATES OF V.D.A.FOR EMPLOYEES EMPLOYED IN “Employment of Sweeping and Cleaning excluding activities prohibited under the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993″.
Category 6: RATES OF V.D.A.FOR EMPLOYEES EMPLOYED IN WATCH AND WARD (with arms)
Classification Table of Cities for VDA
| AREA-“A” | |||||
| Ahmedabad | (UA) | Hyderabad | (UA) | Faridabad complex | (M.Corpn) |
| Bangaluru | (UA) | Kanpur | (UA) | Ghaziabad | (UA) |
| Delhi | (UA) | Chennai | (UA) | Noida | |
| Greater Mumbai | (UA) | Nagpur | (UA) | Secunderabad | |
| Kolkata | (UA) | Lucknow | (UA) | Gurgaon | (M.Corpn) |
| Navi Mumbai | (UA) | Pune | (UA) | ||
| AREA-“B” | |||||
| Agra | (UA) | Gwalior | (UA) | Port Blair | (UA) |
| Ajmer | (UA) | Hubli-Dharwad | Puducherry | (UA) | |
| Aligarh | (UA) | Indore | (UA) | Raipur | (UA) |
| Allahabad | (UA) | Jabalpur | (UA) | Raurkela | (UA) |
| Amravati | (M.Corpn) | Jaipur | Rajkot | (UA) | |
| Amritsar | (UA) | Jalandhar | (UA) | Ranchi | (UA) |
| Asansol | (UA) | Jalandhar-Canti | (UA) | Saharanpur | |
| Aurangabad | (UA) | Jammu | (UA) | Salem | (UA) |
| Bareilly | (UA) | Jamnagar | (UA) | Sangli | (UA) |
| Belgaum | (UA) | Jamshedpur | (UA) | Shillong | |
| Bhavnagar | (UA) | Jhansi | (UA) | Siliguri | (UA) |
| Bhiwandi | (UA) | Jodhpur | (UA) | Solapur | (M.Corpn) |
| Bhopal | (UA) | Kannur | (UA) | Srinagar | (UA) |
| Bhubaneshwar | (UA) | Kochi | (UA) | Surat | (UA) |
| Bikaner | (M.Corpn) | Kolhapur | (UA) | Thiruvananthapuram | (UA) |
| Bokaro Steel City | (UA) | Kollam | (UA) | Thrissur | (UA) |
| Chandigarh | (UA) | Kota | (M.Corpn) | Tiruchirappalli | (UA) |
| Coimbatore | (UA) | Kozhikode | (UA) | Tiruppur | (UA) |
| Cuttack | (UA) | Ludhiana | (M.Corpn) | Ujjain | (M.Corpn) |
| Dehradun | (UA) | Madurai | (UA) | Vadodara | (UA) |
| Dhanbad | (UA) | Malappuram | (UA) | Varanasi | (UA) |
| Durapur | (UA) | Malegon | (UA) | Vasai-Virar City | (M.Corpn) |
| Durg-Bhilai Nagar | (UA) | Mangalore | (UA) | Vijayawada | (UA) |
| Erode | (UA) | Meerut | (UA) | Vishakhapatnam | (M.Corpn) |
| Firozabad | Moradabad | (M.Corpn) | Warangal | (UA) | |
| Goa | Mysore | (UA) | |||
| Gorakhpur | (UA) | Nanded Waghala | (M.Corpn) | ||
| Greater Visakhapatnam | (M.Corpn) | Nasik | (UA) | ||
| Gulbarga | (UA) | Nellore | (UA) | ||
| Guntur | (UA) | Panchkula | (UA) | ||
| Guwahati | (UA) | Patna | (UA) | ||
Note I. – Area ‘C’ shall comprise all areas not mentioned in this list but to which the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948) extends.
Latest Updates on VDA 2022
- Revised VDA Minimum Wages for Agriculture Workers with effect from 1.4.2022 August 9, 2022
- Revision of Rate of Variable Dearness Allowance for Contract Workers from 1.10.2021 December 9, 2021
- Revision of Rate of VDA from April 2021: Railway Board Order June 28, 2021
- Central Government Minimum Wages with Revised VDA April 28, 2021
- Revised Variable Dearness Allowance (Minimum Wages) from April 2020 May 12, 2020
- Variable Dearness Allowance – Revised VDA (Minimum Wages) for Agriculture employees from April 2020 May 11, 2020
- VDA Minimum Wages effect from 1.4.2019 – CLC (Central) Orders April 20, 2019
- Variable Dearness Allowance to Agriculture Employees from Oct 2018 October 6, 2018
Revised rates of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) w.e.f. 01.10.2022 for contract workers engaged in Indian Railways – RBE No. 139/2022 Dated 28.10.2022
