Chandigarh government housing rules now allow employees transferred from designated hard areas to retain their government accommodation for six months after being relieved from that posting, provided they pay the normal licence fee. The Chandigarh Administration notified the amendment in the Chandigarh Administration Gazette, bringing the change into force on October 22, 2026.
The provision applies when an employee is transferred from a designated hard area to another soft area, other than Chandigarh. The locations covered include Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, the Union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The amendment changes provisions under the Government Residences (Chandigarh Administration General Pool) Allotment Rules, 1996. It incorporates a decision taken by the House Allotment Committee (Urban) at its meeting on April 7, 2021. The decision had permitted employees subsequently transferred from a hard area to another soft area, excluding Chandigarh, to retain their government residences for six months after being relieved from their hard-area posting.
The revised rule links the retention period to the date on which the employee is relieved from the hard-area assignment. During the six-month period, the employee will pay the normal licence fee for the accommodation. The notification does not indicate any special fee or additional retention charge for this category.
The amendment also clarifies the category of accommodation available to employees transferred to a hard area. Such employees may retain only the category of government residence in Chandigarh for which they are eligible under Annexure A of the allotment rules. This establishes that a hard-area transfer does not, by itself, create entitlement to a higher category of accommodation in Chandigarh.
A separate clarification deals with employees who are temporarily appointed to a higher post in Chandigarh and receive a higher-category residence because of that appointment. Once the employee is relieved from the higher post and returns to the original post, the higher-category residence cannot be retained. The employee must instead be allotted accommodation corresponding to the entitlement attached to the original post.
The notification was issued by order in the name of the Chandigarh Administrator under Rule 45 of the Fundamental Rules and other enabling provisions. The changes take effect from the date of publication in the Gazette, providing the formal administrative basis for the six-month retention provision and the revised accommodation eligibility rules.
