Armed Forces Retirement Gratuity Calculator
After at least five years of actual qualifying service, Regulation 142 grants one-fourth of reckonable emoluments for every completed six-month period, up to 16½ months. JCO/OR service receives five years' weightage for this calculation.
Calculator
Inputs stay in this browser and are not recorded.
Formula
The calculator applies the 66-period maximum and then the ₹25 lakh ceiling. It does not calculate death gratuity, terminal gratuity or Agniveer benefits.
Estimate, not sanctionFinal qualifying service and reckonable emoluments are fixed by the service record and PAO/CDA.
What counts as reckonable emoluments
For retirement gratuity, reckonable emoluments are the basic pay drawn on the date of retirement, plus Military Service Pay (MSP), plus the Dearness Allowance admissible on that date. For JCOs and ORs, X-group pay or classification allowance counts too where it was being drawn. House Rent Allowance, transport allowance and the like do not count.
This calculator takes the pay-plus-MSP figure and the DA percentage separately, then adds the DA of the day on top — the way the sanctioning office works it out.
The ₹25 lakh ceiling
Two limits apply and the smaller one wins. The gratuity cannot exceed 16½ times reckonable emoluments (66 completed six-month periods, i.e. 33 years); and it cannot exceed the overall ceiling — ₹25 lakh from 1 January 2024, raised from ₹20 lakh when Dearness Allowance crossed 50%.
PBOR service carries a five-year weightage added to actual qualifying service for this one calculation; officers get none. A minimum of five years' actual qualifying service is needed to earn a retirement gratuity at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dearness Allowance included?
Yes. DA admissible on the date of retirement is added to basic pay and MSP to form the reckonable emoluments the ¼-per-half-year rate is applied to.
What is the most that can be paid?
16½ times reckonable emoluments, and never more than ₹25 lakh (₹20 lakh before 1 January 2024). Whichever is lower is sanctioned.
Do JCOs and ORs get the weightage?
Yes — five years is added to actual qualifying service for the gratuity calculation. Officers do not get it.
Is retirement gratuity taxed?
No. For members of the defence services the death-cum-retirement gratuity is fully exempt from income tax under Section 10(10)(i) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Does this cover death gratuity?
No. Death gratuity, terminal gratuity and the Agniveer Seva Nidhi run on different rules and are not computed here.
Why does my figure differ from the office's?
Usually the reckonable emoluments or the exact completed qualifying service differ. The service record and PAO/CDA fix both; this page is an estimate to check against your own papers, not a sanction.
Sources
- Pension Regulations for the Army, Part-I (2008, corrected to 2020), Regulation 142 — one-fourth of reckonable emoluments for each completed six-month period of qualifying service, maximum 16½ times; PBOR actual qualifying service plus five years' weightage. Values held in rates.json.
- Ceiling of ₹25 lakh with effect from 1 January 2024 — MoD / Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare implementation of DoP&PW OM No. 28/03/2024-P&PW(B)/Gratuity/9559 dated 30 May 2024, published by DESW on 14 May 2025.
- Income-tax exemption — Section 10(10)(i) of the Income-tax Act, 1961: death-cum-retirement gratuity of members of the defence services is fully exempt.
This is general information, not a benefits sanction or tax advice. The final gratuity is fixed by your service record and PAO/CDA against the rules in force on your date of retirement. Sainik Desk is a private website, not a government one.