Tribal Area Allowance

The Tribal Area Allowance for postings in scheduled tribal areas is now paid as the 7th CPC Tough Location Allowance, by area tier and pay level.

Updated 18 July 2026 · Reviewed by Salary-Calculator.in

The Tribal Area Allowance is the allowance that compensates a central government employee for the difficulty of serving in a scheduled tribal area, one of the tracts notified for the purpose, where the terrain is hard, connectivity is poor, and the ordinary services of a town are thin or absent. It was one of a family of location-based compensatory allowances for hard postings, and under the 7th Central Pay Commission, notified through Department of Expenditure Resolution No. 11-1/2016-IC dated 6 July 2017, it is no longer paid under that name: it is subsumed into the Tough Location Allowance , drawn from the lower hardship cells of the Risk and Hardship Allowance matrix.

The change is one of form rather than idea. An employee posted in a tribal area still draws a location allowance for that posting, but it now comes from a single consolidated framework rather than a separately named and separately administered payment. The old name survives in the schedules of qualifying areas and in the language of the orders, which is why the allowance is still looked up under its former title even though the money is paid as Tough Location Allowance.

This article sets out what the allowance compensates, the standalone form it took under the 6th Central Pay Commission, the 7th CPC rationalisation that folded it into the Tough Location Allowance, the three tiers and their rates by area and pay level, the rules that limit an employee to a single such allowance and bar it running alongside the Special Duty Allowance , the dearness-allowance escalator that keeps the rates current, and the tax position. The rates below are the base figures in the 2017 order alongside the current figures, which stand 25 per cent higher because dearness allowance has crossed 50 per cent.

What the allowance compensates

A scheduled tribal area is, by its nature, a hard posting. These are the forested and hilly tracts, protected under the Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution, where roads are few, the terrain is difficult, and schools, hospitals and markets are far apart. The Tribal Area Allowance existed to offset the burden of serving there, so that a posting to a remote tribal tract did not leave an employee worse off than a colleague in a town on the same pay.

The allowance is compensatory, directed at the hardship of the location rather than at any risk in the duty. That places it, in the 7th CPC framework, at the hardship end of the Risk and Hardship Allowance matrix, in the cells where hardship is present but the high operational risk of a field or commando posting is not. A teacher, a clerk or a health worker posted in a tribal tract draws a Tough Location tier for the hardship of the place; the high-risk cells of the matrix are for the field-area and operational duties of the armed forces and the paramilitary.

The 6th CPC standalone form

Under the 6th Central Pay Commission the Tribal Area Allowance was a payment in its own right, with a schedule of qualifying tribal areas and a set of grade-linked rates, so that a higher grade drew a larger amount. It sat alongside the parallel compensatory allowances for remote localities, hill areas and bad-climate areas, each with its own schedule and rate table, and the four together formed the location-compensatory group.

That structure had grown piecemeal. Four separate allowances, each with its own list of areas and its own slab table, covered what was in substance one idea, that a hard location deserves compensation. The overlap between them, and the administrative weight of running four parallel schemes, were among the reasons the 7th CPC recodified the whole group into one allowance.

The 7th CPC rationalisation into Tough Location Allowance

The 7th Central Pay Commission’s guiding move on allowances was consolidation, and the location-compensatory group was a clear candidate. The Commission recommended, and the Government accepted, that the Tribal Area Allowance, the Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance , the Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance and the Bad Climate Allowance be subsumed into a single Tough Location Allowance . One allowance with three tiers replaced four separately named allowances, each of which had carried its own schedule and rate table.

The Tough Location Allowance is not a free-standing scheme with rates of its own. It is the name given to the three lowest hardship tiers of the Risk and Hardship Matrix, the cells R3H1, R3H2 and R3H3, where the location involves hardship without the high risk that lifts a duty into the field-area and operational cells. Folding the tribal-area allowance into these cells put it on the same footing as every other hardship posting in the government, judged on one scale rather than on a scheme peculiar to itself.

The tiers and their rates

The Tough Location Allowance has three tiers, drawn from the three matrix cells. Each carries two rates, a higher one for officers at Level 9 and above and a lower one for staff up to Level 8, the two-slab design that runs through the whole Risk and Hardship Matrix. The base rates in the 2017 order are shown alongside the current figures, which are 25 per cent higher:

Tier	Matrix cell	Up to Level 8, base (Rs.)	Up to Level 8, current (Rs.)	Level 9 and above, base (Rs.)	Level 9 and above, current (Rs.)
Tough Location Allowance-I	R3H1	4,100	5,125	5,300	6,625
Tough Location Allowance-II	R3H2	2,700	3,375	3,400	4,250
Tough Location Allowance-III	R3H3	1,000	1,250	1,200	1,500

Tribal-area postings generally fall in the lower tiers of this table, most often Tough Location Allowance-III, the mildest tier, with a harder tribal tract placed in Tough Location Allowance-II where the area’s classification warrants it. The tier is fixed by the area, not by the employee; within the tier, the pay level then decides which of the two rates applies. So two employees in the same tribal-area station draw the same tier but different amounts if one is at Level 9 and above and the other up to Level 8.

How a tribal area is categorised into a tier

The matrix fixes the rate for each tier, but it does not by itself say which tier a particular station belongs in. That is decided by the schedule of qualifying areas and the relevant order, carrying forward the tribal-area classification the earlier scheme used. The scheduled tribal areas run to the tracts notified in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the North-Eastern states, each placed in a Tough Location Allowance tier.

Because the placement is a scheduling decision, the authoritative tier for a given posting is the one set out in the relevant order for that area, not a judgement the employee makes. An employee posted to a scheduled tribal station should confirm the tier and the rate against the order that classifies the station, since the same broad region can contain areas in different tiers depending on how hard each one is.

The one-allowance and no-Special-Duty-Allowance rules

Two rules limit the allowance so that a single posting does not draw compensation twice for the same hardship.

First, an employee draws only one Tough Location Allowance at a time. The tiers are not additive, and a station that might be described under more than one of the old headings, tribal and remote and bad-climate together, still draws a single Tough Location Allowance at its assigned tier, not a sum across the headings the subsuming replaced. This follows directly from the consolidation: because the four old allowances became one, an employee cannot reconstruct the old stack by claiming several tiers at once.

Second, the Tough Location Allowance is not admissible alongside the Special Duty Allowance , the allowance for service in the North-Eastern Region and Ladakh. An employee posted to an area that qualifies for both is given the option to draw whichever is more beneficial, and draws that one alone. Since the Special Duty Allowance is a percentage of basic pay and the Tough Location Allowance is a flat tier amount, the more beneficial choice depends on the employee’s pay, and the option lets each employee take the larger figure. This matters for the North-Eastern tribal areas, where both could otherwise apply.

How the rates rise with dearness allowance

The Tough Location Allowance rates carry the same dearness-allowance escalator as the rest of the Risk and Hardship Matrix: each rate rises by 25 per cent whenever dearness allowance rises by 50 per cent. The clause pegs the tiers to the same inflation index that drives dearness allowance, so they climb without a fresh order each time prices move.

The escalator has been triggered once. Dearness allowance reached 50 per cent with effect from 1 January 2024, which lifted every tier by 25 per cent, which is why the table above shows a base and a current column. Dearness allowance is now 60 per cent, but the next 25 per cent step-up in the Tough Location Allowance rates does not arrive until dearness allowance reaches 100 per cent, because the escalator moves in whole 50-point blocks. As no single consolidated order re-tabulates the enhanced figures, an employee should confirm the current tier rate with the Drawing and Disbursing Officer before making a claim.

Where the allowance sits among the location allowances

The tribal-area allowance is one of the four location-compensatory allowances the 7th CPC folded into the Tough Location Allowance, and it helps to see it alongside its siblings. The Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance covered remote localities, the Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance covered hill areas, and the Bad Climate Allowance covered areas of unhealthy climate. All four now draw from the same three Tough Location tiers, and an employee whose posting could be described under more than one of them still draws a single Tough Location Allowance.

Above the Tough Location tiers, the wider Risk and Hardship Allowance matrix holds the high-risk field and operational cells, and the percentage-based Special Duty Allowance and hard area allowance cover the North-Eastern Region, Ladakh and the island territories. The tribal-area allowance is the hardship-of-place payment for scheduled tribal tracts within that graded system.

A worked example

Take an employee at Level 6, so up to Level 8, posted to a scheduled tribal station classified in Tough Location Allowance-III, the tier most tribal areas fall in. At the current enhanced rate the allowance is Rs. 1,250 a month, drawn over and above the basic pay of the level and the ordinary allowances such as dearness allowance and house-rent allowance, adding Rs. 15,000 over a year.

Now suppose a harder tribal tract is classified in Tough Location Allowance-II. The same Level 6 employee there would draw Rs. 3,375 a month at the current rate, or Rs. 40,500 over a year. And if the station lies in the North-Eastern Region, so that the Special Duty Allowance at 10 per cent of basic pay also applies, the employee is given the option and draws whichever is larger, the flat Tough Location tier or the 10 per cent Special Duty Allowance, but not both. For a lower-paid employee the flat tier is often the larger figure; for a higher-paid one the percentage allowance usually wins.

Tax treatment

The Tribal Area Allowance is, as a rule, taxable as part of salary, and there is no general exemption for it as a class. A limited exemption for defined tribal and scheduled areas survives under Section 10(14) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, read with Rule 2BB of the Income-tax Rules, up to a small fixed monthly figure, but it is a targeted concession rather than a blanket one, and it applies mainly under the old tax regime. The default new regime under Section 115BAC withdrew the great majority of the Section 10(14) exemptions, so an employee in or opting for the new regime should treat the allowance as taxable unless the specific surviving exemption applies to the area.

Because the exemption depends on the exact area and the financial year, an employee with a tribal-area component should check the treatment of the specific posting rather than assume it is exempt. For the wider comparison see old versus new tax regime and income tax for central government employees .

The 8th CPC outlook

The 7th Central Pay Commission built the Tough Location Allowance and set the base tier rates, and the 25 per cent escalator has lifted them once since, from 1 January 2024. Whether the 8th Central Pay Commission keeps the three-tier consolidation, revises the rates, or re-draws the schedule of qualifying areas is not known, and no figure for the allowance after the 8th CPC can be stated as fact until that commission reports and its recommendations are accepted. Until then the position is the three Tough Location tiers, standing 25 per cent above the 2017 base figures, drawn one at a time and not alongside the Special Duty Allowance.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Tribal Area Allowance?

The Tribal Area Allowance is a compensatory allowance for a central government employee posted in a scheduled tribal area, one of the tracts notified for the purpose, to offset the difficulty of serving in an area that is remote and thinly served. It was one of a family of location-based compensatory allowances, and under the 7th Central Pay Commission it is paid as the Tough Location Allowance rather than under its old name, drawn from the lower hardship cells of the Risk and Hardship Matrix.

Does the Tribal Area Allowance still exist as a separate allowance?

Not under its old name. The 7th Central Pay Commission subsumed it, along with the Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance, the Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance and the Bad Climate Allowance, into a single Tough Location Allowance with three tiers. An employee posted in a scheduled tribal area now draws the Tough Location Allowance of the tier assigned to that area, at the matrix rate for their pay level, in place of the separately named tribal-area allowance that existed under the 6th CPC.

How much is the Tough Location Allowance that replaced it?

It has three tiers drawn from cells R3H1, R3H2 and R3H3 of the Risk and Hardship Matrix, each with two rates. At the current enhanced rates, Tough Location Allowance-I is Rs. 6,625 a month for Level 9 and above and Rs. 5,125 up to Level 8; Tough Location Allowance-II is Rs. 4,250 and Rs. 3,375; and Tough Location Allowance-III is Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 1,250. Tribal-area postings generally fall in the lower tiers, most often Tough Location Allowance-III, with the exact tier set by the area’s classification.

Which areas qualify for the Tribal Area Allowance?

The qualifying areas are the scheduled tribal areas notified for the purpose, tracts in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the North-Eastern states. Each notified area is assigned to a Tough Location Allowance tier, and the tier fixes the rate. The classification of a specific station is made in the relevant order, so the authoritative tier for a posting is the one that order sets, not a judgement the employee makes.

Can I draw the Tough Location Allowance and the Special Duty Allowance together?

No. The Tough Location Allowance is not admissible alongside the Special Duty Allowance, which is paid for postings in the North-Eastern Region and Ladakh. An employee posted in an area that qualifies for both is given the option to draw whichever is more beneficial, but not both at once, so a tribal-area posting in the North-East draws the Special Duty Allowance or the Tough Location Allowance, whichever is larger, not the two together.

Can I draw more than one Tough Location Allowance at the same time?

No. An employee draws only one Tough Location Allowance at a time, the one for the area of the current posting. The tiers are not additive, and a station that might arguably be described as tribal and remote and bad-climate together still draws a single Tough Location Allowance at the tier assigned to it, not a sum of several, because the four old allowances became one on consolidation.

Have the rates increased with dearness allowance?

Yes. The 2017 order provides that the Tough Location Allowance rates rise by 25 per cent each time dearness allowance rises by 50 per cent, the escalator that runs through the whole Risk and Hardship Matrix. Dearness allowance reached 50 per cent on 1 January 2024, so the current rates stand 25 per cent above the base figures. The next 25 per cent step-up does not come until dearness allowance reaches 100 per cent.

Is the Tribal Area Allowance taxable?

As a rule the amount is taxable as part of salary; there is no blanket exemption for it as a class. A limited exemption for defined tribal and scheduled areas survives under Section 10(14) of the Income-tax Act read with Rule 2BB, up to a small fixed monthly figure, but it is targeted and applies mainly under the old tax regime, which the default new regime under Section 115BAC largely withdrew. An employee should check the treatment of the specific area for the relevant financial year.

External references

References

Report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission, November 2015, Chapter 8.10 (Allowances Related to Risk and Hardship): recommendation to subsume the Tribal Area Allowance, Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance, Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance and Bad Climate Allowance into the Tough Location Allowance, and the three-tier rates in cells R3H1, R3H2 and R3H3 of the Risk and Hardship Matrix.
Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, Resolution No. 11-1/2016-IC dated 6 July 2017: Government decision on the 7th CPC allowances, effective 1 July 2017, including the Tough Location Allowance, the rule that only one Tough Location Allowance is admissible, and that it is not admissible alongside the Special Duty Allowance.
Sixth Central Pay Commission and the earlier Department of Expenditure orders on the Tribal Area Allowance (the standalone scheme, the schedule of qualifying tribal areas, and the grade-linked rates that the 7th CPC replaced).
Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, Office Memorandum No. 1/1/2024-E.II(B): dearness allowance revised to 50 per cent with effect from 1 January 2024, triggering the 25 per cent rise in the Risk and Hardship Matrix and Tough Location Allowance rates.
Income-tax Act 1961, Section 10(14) read with Rule 2BB of the Income-tax Rules (limited exemption for allowances granted for postings in tribal, scheduled and difficult areas, up to a fixed monthly figure).