BMC employees to receive ₹33,000 as Diwali bonus

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced a Diwali bonus of ₹33,000 for its employees this year. Union leaders have confirmed that this bonus will benefit more than 83,000 permanent employees and staff before Diwali. The announcement was made during a meeting held at the BMC headquarters, according to which this year's bonus is higher than last year's ₹31,000. This bonus will also include teachers and non-teaching staff of aided private schools, union leaders stated.

On the other hand, the process for Diwali bonus for central government employees is also underway. According to a report by Mint, the central government has approved a 30-day ad-hoc bonus for the financial year ending in March 2026 (FY26). This bonus is typically announced in the month of October during the festive season. The central government had 36.6 lakh civil employees as of March 2025, but official details regarding how many employees will receive this bonus have not yet been released.

Regarding eligibility for the central bonus, Mint explained that employees must be in service as of 31 March 2026 and must have completed at least six months of continuous service during the financial year 2025-26. Employees who have completed qualifying service ranging from six months to one year will be given a bonus on a pro-rata basis. Months are used for the calculation of eligibility, which are rounded off to the nearest one digit.

Providing information about the categories for the central bonus, according to the Mint report, this bonus is available to central government employees in Group C and non-gazetted Group B categories. However, Group A and gazetted Group B officers have been excluded from this. Group A includes senior government officers, including employees of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS). Group B includes mid-level staff in supervisory, executive, or administrative roles. Group C includes operational, clerical, and support roles such as assistants and data-entry operators.

The eligible personnel of the Central Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces are also covered in this. This order also applies to the employees of the administrations of Union Territories that follow the central pay structure, provided they are not covered under any other bonus or ex-gratia scheme. Temporary or ad-hoc employees may also be eligible if they have completed at least six months of continuous service without any break.

As per the department's expenditure guidelines, if employees retired before 31 March 2026, or retired on medical grounds, or have passed away, they are eligible to receive a pro-rata bonus if they have completed at least six months of regular service in the financial year 2026. For employees re-employed after retirement, the period of re-employment is assessed separately, but the total payment during both periods cannot exceed the maximum bonus permissible under the order.

The bonus is calculated on the monthly salary or the prescribed limit of ₹7,000, whichever is lower. As per the department's expenditure rules, the average monthly income is divided by 30.4 to determine the daily rate, which is then multiplied by the number of days granted as a bonus. For employees earning ₹7,000 or more per month, the payment for the maximum 30-day bonus is ₹6,908. Staff eligible for shorter periods will receive a proportionately lower amount, while those earning less than the ₹7,000 limit will have their bonus calculated based on their actual income.

Casual labourers working in government offices can also be eligible if they meet certain work requirements. Workers in offices with a six-day week must have completed 240 days of work in each year for three or more years. In offices with a five-day week, this requirement is at least 206 days. The monthly calculation limit for eligible casual labour is ₹1,200. After rounding, the 30-day bonus on this limit amounts to ₹1,184. If the actual monthly income is less than ₹1,200, the bonus will be calculated based on the actual income. The condition of being in service on 31 March 2026 does not apply to casual labour.

If any casual labour is working in various government offices, the working days of different offices can be combined, provided the worker has not already received a bonus, ex-gratia, or incentive payment for that work. However, part-time employees engaged on nominal fixed payments are still excluded. Employees on deputation to state governments, Union Territory governments, or public sector undertakings on foreign service terms will be ineligible to receive the bonus from their parent central government departments. In such cases, the borrowing institution usually determines the applicable payment under its own bonus, productivity-linked bonus, ex-gratia, or incentive scheme. However, employees transferred between central government departments or eligible Union Territories without a break in service become eligible based on their combined service.