8th Pay Commission: Millions of central government employees and pensioners across the country are currently awaiting the 8th Pay Commission. All eyes are on the government's announcement regarding the fitment factor. Although no official notification has been issued by the government yet, the latest updates have certainly brought smiles to the faces of the employees.

Will arrears bring a bumper payout?
If there is a delay in implementing the 8th Pay Commission, employees need not worry. The rule states that the longer the delay, the larger the arrears will be.

Let's say your salary is supposed to increase by Rs. 10,000. If the new pay commission is considered effective from January 2026, but the payment starts from May 2027, then you will receive a lump sum of Rs. 1.50 lakh as arrears for the previous 15 months. In other words, the money isn't going anywhere; it's simply accumulating.

How much will the salary increase?
According to experts and employees, there could be big news regarding the fitment factor in the 8th Pay Commission. There are discussions about increasing the fitment factor from 2.57 to 3 or even 3.42 times. If this happens, there will be a tremendous increase in the take-home salary of employees from the lowest to the highest levels.

Under the 7th Pay Commission, every employee has a pay level. Different basic salaries are fixed for levels 1 to 18. For example, the basic salary in Level 3 is approximately Rs. 21,700, in Level 6 it is Rs. 35,400, and in Level 10 it is Rs. 56,100. This is your current basic salary, and the entire new calculation is based on this.

If we consider an employee in Level 6 living in a metropolitan city, the new basic salary could be around Rs. 92,000.
Adding HRA to this increases the salary by approximately Rs. 22,000, and the transport allowance adds another Rs. 3,600. In this way, the total gross salary could reach around Rs 1.17 lakh.

When will the official announcement be made?
In October 2025, the Cabinet approved the Terms of Reference, which were the first major step in this direction. As you know, a new pay commission is constituted every 10 years. Since the 7th Pay Commission came into effect on January 1, 2016, the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission are expected to be implemented from January 1, 2026. Although the government is currently in a wait-and-watch mode, experts say that 2026 could prove to be a bonus year for central government employees.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from NDTV India. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.