HRA Metro Status Checker
Check whether your city is a metro for HRA exemption (50% vs 40%) for FY 2025-26 or the expanded 8-city FY 2026-27 rule.
Formula last reviewed 4 August 2026 · How we verify our calculators
Bangalore for HRA (FY 2026-27)
Metro — 50% exemption
- HRA exemption cap (% of basic)
- 50.0%
Updates live as you type
Frequently asked questions
It depends on the year. For FY 2025-26 Bangalore is non-metro (40% exemption) under the old 4-city rule. From FY 2026-27 it becomes a metro (50% exemption) under the expanded 8-city rule.
Eight: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai (the original four) plus Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. All allow 50% of basic as the HRA exemption cap.
No. Despite being part of the NCR, Gurugram is not on the 8-city list, so it remains non-metro at 40% — a common and costly misconception.
The HRA exemption is the least of three amounts, one of which is 50% of basic for metros versus 40% for non-metros. Metro status therefore raises the potential exemption and your take-home.
This tool only resolves metro status. For the full exemption (the least-of-three calculation using your rent, HRA and basic), use our Old vs New regime calculator under Tax, which applies the HRA math.
The same city, two answers, depending on the year
Check Bangalore for FY 2026-27 and this tool returns Metro — 50% exemption. Check the identical city for FY 2025-26 and the answer becomes Non-metro — 40% exemption.
Nothing about the city changed. The metro list itself did, and the financial year you are filing for determines which version applies. That is why this checker asks for the year before answering, rather than treating metro status as a permanent property of a place.
What changed
For FY 2025-26 and earlier, the HRA metro list was the original four: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Every other city, however large, was capped at 40% of basic.
From FY 2026-27, the list expanded to eight, adding Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad.
The practical effect is a ten-percentage-point increase in the third condition of the HRA exemption for salaried renters in those four cities — a substantial change for a large number of taxpayers, and one that takes effect from a specific assessment year rather than retrospectively.
The exclusion that catches people
Gurugram is not on the list, and neither is Noida. Both sit in the National Capital Region, both are major employment centres, and both remain non-metro at 40%.
"Delhi NCR" is a planning and administrative concept. The HRA rule refers to Delhi specifically. Assuming otherwise is a common and expensive error, because the claim will not survive scrutiny and the shortfall surfaces with interest.
The same logic applies to satellite areas of other metros — the classification attaches to the named city, not to its broader urban agglomeration.
Why ten percentage points matters
Metro status affects only the third of the three conditions that determine the HRA exemption. The exemption is the least of:
1. Actual HRA received 2. Rent paid minus 10% of basic 3. 50% of basic in a metro, 40% elsewhere
So metro status changes your outcome only when condition 3 is the binding one — which happens when your rent is high relative to your basic salary. For someone paying modest rent, condition 2 binds and metro status makes no difference at all.
That is worth checking before assuming a reclassification helps you. On a basic of ₹9,60,000, the difference between 40% and 50% is ₹96,000 of potential exemption — but only if the other two conditions are larger.
Reading the result
This tool resolves status only. The actual exemption requires your rent, HRA and basic salary, and the least-of-three calculation — use the HRA exemption calculator for that.
Two further points worth carrying:
HRA exists only in the old regime. Under the new regime the exemption is unavailable regardless of which city you live in, so metro status is irrelevant to a new-regime filer.
The classification applies to where you rent, not where your employer is based. Someone employed by a Mumbai company but renting in Indore is non-metro.
Common mistakes
Assuming status is permanent. The list changed between FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27.
Treating NCR as Delhi. Gurugram and Noida are not on the list.
Expecting metro status to always help. It only matters when condition 3 binds.
Applying it under the new regime. HRA is not available there at all.
Using the employer's city. The rule follows where you actually rent.