Late Instalment Surcharge — what falling behind on a DHA file costs
Every field, the formula behind it, and a worked example.
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Help › The calculators › Late instalment surcharge
Missing instalments on a file does two things at once: the surcharge climbs, and the allotment itself moves closer to being cancelled. This shows both.
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When to use it
When instalments have been missed and you want to know the number that brings the file current today — and whether you are already in the cancellation zone.
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Every field, explained
| One instalment (Rs) | The regular instalment on the file, as the schedule sets it. |
| Instalments unpaid | How many are outstanding right now. |
| Surcharge rate (% per month) | DHA's, and it differs by scheme. Some schemes charge per day — convert it to a monthly figure before entering it. We do not print any rate here. |
| Months overdue (the oldest one) | How long the oldest unpaid instalment has been sitting. The newer ones have been overdue for less, and the calculator allows for that. |
| Instalments before cancellation | Three is commonly quoted, but it is scheme-specific. Confirm yours. |
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How the answer is worked out
- The arrears are simply one instalment x how many are unpaid.
- For the surcharge it does not charge every instalment for the full period — the oldest has been overdue longest, the newest least. It uses the average, (months + 1) / 2.
- Surcharge = arrears x rate x that average.
- It also flags the moment the number of unpaid instalments reaches the cancellation threshold you entered.
A file three instalments behind
| One instalment | Rs 250,000 |
| Unpaid | 3 |
| Rate DHA quoted | 1.5% a month |
| Oldest overdue | 5 months |
| Arrears | Rs 750,000 |
| Average months | (5 + 1) / 2 = 3 |
Surcharge of about Rs 33,750, so roughly Rs 783,750 clears the file today — and at three unpaid instalments the page warns you that the allotment itself may now be at risk.
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Mistakes people make
- Entering a daily rate in the monthly box. Convert it first, or the answer is thirty times too big.
- Counting months from the newest missed instalment instead of the oldest.
- Treating the cancellation threshold as universal. It is not — it is written in your own scheme's terms.
- Waiting because the surcharge looks small. The surcharge is not the risk; the cancellation is.
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What it does not do
- It does not know whether your scheme compounds the surcharge or charges it flat.
- It does not include a reinstatement fee if the file has already been cancelled.
- It cannot tell you whether DHA will waive anything. Only DHA can.
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Questions
- What if the file is already cancelled?
- Is the surcharge negotiable?
- Why does it use an average number of months?
Then this calculator is the wrong tool — go to the DHA office the same day. Reinstatement, where it is possible at all, is a separate and much larger bill.
That is DHA's call. Go in person, with the payment history, and ask in writing.
Because charging every unpaid instalment for the full overdue period would overstate the bill. The newest instalment has not been overdue as long as the oldest.