What's new with the 8th pay commission? By how much can central government employee salaries get hiked?

The National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) asked for a fitment factor of at least 2.57 ( which is the same as the 7th Pay Commission) or higher.

The 8th Pay Commission was approved by the Union Cabinet on January 16, 2025 for revising the salaries of central government employees.

7th Pay Commission HRA is also hiked when DA is revised by the government for central government employees. (Image credit: Pexels)

The National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) had asked for a fitment factor of at least 2.57 ( which is the same as the 7th Pay Commission) or higher, according to several reports.

What is fitment factor and what does a 2.57 fitment factor mean for central government employees?

Fitment factor refers to the multiplication unit which is used for revising the base salaries and pensions of government employees.

For instance, a fitment factor of 2.57 means a 157 per cent salary hike.

As a result, the current minimum salary of ₹18,000 per month will then increase to ₹46,260.

Even the minimum pension of ₹9,000 per month will get hiked to ₹23,130.

The 7th Pay Commission had the same the 2.57 fitment factor which led to a 157 per cent hike in salaries and pensions, taking the minimum salary from ₹7,000 to ₹18,000.

There was also a demand for a fitment factor of 2.86 under the 8th Pay Commission, according to a News18 report. However, former finance secretary Subhash Garg in an interview said this was like “asking for the moon." He then suggested a fitment factor of around 1.92.

However, if the fitment factor of 1.92 gets approved, it will increase central government employees’ minimum salary from ₹18,000 to ₹34,560, which is a hike of 92 per cent.

Despite this, Shiv Gopal Mishra, secretary (staff side) of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery told NDTV Profit that he believes the fitment facto “has to be at least 2.57, or higher than that” since the yardsticks used to calculate this are outdated and do not reflect present-day worker needs.

More specifically, the 7th Pay Commission had set the fitment factor at 2.57 based on the 15th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) resolution of 1957 and also Dr. Aykroyd’s formula for minimum living wage, which only accounts for essential commodites and not modern expenses like that of internet, according to the report.

The new 8th Pay Commission may be implemented from January 1, 2026. However, there are also speculations that it might get delayed and take more time than the expected.