8th Pay Commission Latest: Salary Hike, Pensions, DA Merger, Arrears, Fitment Factor — 8th CPC Big Announcement In Diwali?

The central government employees and pensioners have been eagerly waiting for the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission, which will improve their cost of living. Once again hopes are pinned on major changes and big hikes in salaries, pensions and allowances under 8th CPC during the upcoming Diwali festival. Several employees’ unions and pension bodies have submitted their recommendations to the 8th Pay Commission committee, and a decision is yet to be made. Let’s understand what is happening in 8th Pay Commission and whether good news will be announced in Diwali or extend for the next year.

8th Pay Commission: Good News In Diwali?

Sadly, no major decisions regarding the 8th Pay Commission are expected in November 2026. That is because the committee responsible for submitting the recommendations is currently in the consultation stage, inviting several central government employees and pensioner groups, unions and stakeholders to submit their recommendations.

The 8th Pay Commission was constituted on November 3, 2025, with Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai leading the committee as chairman. There is also Professor Pulak Ghosh as a part-time member and Pankaj Jain as the member secretary of the 8th CPC panel. They are responsible for reviewing and assessing all the recommendations for 8th CPC and formulating the best beneficial option. Then the panel will submit the final recommendations for approval to the government.

When the reference of the commission was formed last year in November, they were given a 18-month timeframe to submit the final report of recommendations. Accordingly, 8th CPC recommendations will likely be submitted in May 2027.

The next consultation meeting is going to be held in Mumbai from October 22 to 23. The 8th CPC committee has held several meetings in other states as well, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Ladakh and Bengaluru.

In the upcoming meetings, the committee will listen to and evaluate recommendations regards to pay matrix, fitment factor, pay structure, allowances, dearness allowance merger, arrears and other increments and promotions under 8th CPC.

More than 1 crore employees are expected to benefit from 8th CPC, comprising of 50 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh pensioners and retirees.

Here are some of the key demands under 8th Pay Commission:

8th Pay Commission: DA Merge

Several employee unions and representatives are demanding to merge dearness allowances for an increase in the employees’ salary base, allowances and retirement benefits. The unions demand that the government absorb the dearness allowance of 7th Pay Commission to the basis salary, which will increase the minimum pay eventually.

As of now, there is no official approval or plan to merge the dearness allowance. Last year in December, the Finance Ministry had said that there are no proposals for merging existing DA with basic pay under consideration. At present, DA is calculated periodically based on the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW).

Employees also await the July 2026 dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) hike this month from current DA of 60%.

8th Pay Commission: Salary Hike

The National Council – Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) and the All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) has demanded that the basic pay under 8th Pay Commission to be increased to Rs 69,000 from current Rs 18,000 per month under the 7th CPC. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Old Pension Organisation has recommended minimum pay hike to Rs 65,000.

On the other hand, the Indian Railways Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) has suggested increasing basic pay to Rs 52,600.

For salary and pension hikes under the 8th CPC, a lot will depend upon the fitment factor. The highest recommendation so far is to Rs 72,000 minimum pay by BPMS – Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh.

8th Pay Commission: Fitment Factor

IRTSA has recommended fitment factors in the range of 2.92, 3.50, and 3.80. The conservative recommendation is 1.92 fitment factor. The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has recommended 3 fitment factors, while the Jammu & Kashmir Employee Forum recommends a 3.05 fitment factor. The Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO) believes fitment factor should be hiked to 3.25.

Moreover, the Jammu and Kashmir Employees Coordination Committee suggested a fitment factor in the range of 2.86 to 3.68. While the NC-JCM and IRTSA believe the fitment factor should be around 3.83. The highest fitment factor for 8th CPC is once again suggested by BPMS to 4.

8th Pay Commission: Arrears

The implementation date for 8th Pay Commission will determine how much arrears employees will receive. Under 7th Pay Commission, the recommendations were effective from January 1, 2016 and the arrears were released in FY16-17.

At present, 1 January 2026 is the normal expectation for the effective date for 8th CPC, based on the ten-year pay commission cycle, but actual implementation and arrears depend on government decisions.

8th Pay Commission: Implementation Date

Since the final recommendations paper is expected to be submitted in May 2027, it will take another two to three years for fully implement those recommendations. Hence, 8th Pay Commission is likely to be implemented either in 2028 or 2029.

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