Disability pension — the element, broad-banding, and the full figure

No pension is surrounded by more confusion — and more bad advice — than disability pension. The rules themselves are short: a disability element worth 30% of your last emoluments at 100% disability, scaled by your accepted percentage; a broad-banding rule that rounds that percentage up in your favour; and, if you were invalided out, a service element alongside it whatever your length of service.

This page computes exactly that — each rule cited to its regulation, and the boundaries stated plainly: the percentage itself is the Medical Board's to decide, not this calculator's, and war-injury cases have their own higher scales that are not computed here.

How the figure is built

1. Band the percentage — below 50 is reckoned as 50; 50 to 75 as 75; 76 to 100 as 100. On invalidment it always applied; since 1 January 2016 it applies to retirement and discharge cases too.
2. The disability element — 30% of (last basic pay + MSP) at 100% disability, scaled by the banded percentage, rounded up to the next rupee.
3. The service part — your service pension (50% of emoluments, minimum ₹9,000). On invalidment the minimum-years bar does not apply to the service element.
4. Dearness Relief — on the whole of it, at the current rate (60% from 1 January 2026).

A worked example

A Havildar retires at a last basic pay of ₹25,000 with a disability accepted at 40%, attributable to service. Broad-banding reckons 40% as 50%. Emoluments = 25,000 + 5,200 = ₹30,200. Element = 30% × 30,200 × 50% = ₹4,530. Service pension = ₹15,100. Basic total ₹19,630 + DR ₹11,778 = ₹31,408 a month.

⚠ What this calculator does not decide Whether the disability is attributable to or aggravated by service, and what percentage it deserves — those are the Medical Board's decisions, recorded at release, and appeals against them run through your Record Office. War-injury element, Constant Attendance Allowance, and lump-sum compensation in lieu of the element are separate rules, not computed here.

Frequently asked questions

What is broad-banding, and does it apply to me?

For computing the element, an accepted disability below 50% is reckoned as 50%; between 50 and 75 as 75%; and 76 to 100 as 100%. It always applied on invalidment — and since 1 January 2016 it applies to retirement and discharge cases too. The calculator applies it automatically and tells you when it did.

I retired normally with a 30% disability — do I get anything?

If the Release Medical Board recorded it as attributable to or aggravated by service and the accepted degree is 20% or more — yes: a disability element on top of your service pension, and your 30% is reckoned as 50% under broad-banding.

Is disability pension income-tax free?

The long-standing exemption covers both the service element and the disability element — but a 2019 CBDT circular restricts it to personnel invalided out, not those who retired normally with an element. The position has been contested since. We state the dispute rather than pretend it is settled — confirm your own case with a tax adviser before filing.

My percentage was assessed lower than I expected — what can I do?

Appeals against the assessment and against attributability run on their own track, through your Record Office — with time limits, so do not sit on it. This calculator takes the accepted percentage as input; it cannot judge the assessment.

Does war injury pay more?

Yes — war-injury cases have their own, higher scales, and this calculator deliberately does not compute them. If your case is a battle casualty, treat this page as background, not as your figure.