8th Pay Commission: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led, Union Cabinet-approved, 8th Pay Commission is set to be effective from 1 Janaury 2026 as the central government employees now focus on their upcoming salary hike, pensions and fitment factor among other things.
The 8th Pay Commission is set to revise the pensions, allowances, and salaries of current and retired central government employees. Along with the salary hikes, the commission will also adjust the Dearness Allowance (DA) of the employees to factor in the inflation factor.
8th Pay Commission Salary Hike — Explained
Although the government has not released any details about the percentage of hikes under the 8th Pay Commission, media reports estimated that, as per the fitment factor, the central government employee’s basic salary can be hiked to ₹51,480 from ₹18,000.
Mint reported earlier that there are nearly 50 lakh central government employees, which includes defence personnel, and almost 65 lakh retired central government pensioners, including defence retirees.
The central government pays commissions that are set up once every ten years to evaluate and revise the employee salaries and the retirement pensions.
8th Pay Commission DA Hikes — Explained
In a social media post on 13 December 2025, the Indian government debunked a claim circulating that central government pensioners will stop getting DA hikes under the new Finance Act 2025.
The authorities said that the claim is “Fake” and the post-retirement benefits like DA hikes and Pay Commission revisions for retired employees, will only be stopped on the grounds of if the employee is “dismissed for misconduct.”
“Rule 37 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 has been amended to state that if an absorbed PSU employee is dismissed for misconduct, their retirement benefits will be forfeited,” they said.
8th Pay Commission Fitment Factor — Explained
The government’s 8th Pay Commission will focus its attention on multiple factors, including inflation and aim to make sustainable public finances by bringing adjustments which have been kept unchanged for the last 10 years since the 7th Pay Commission in 2015.
Experts told Mint earlier that the government will factor in the inflation trends in the economy, along with real wage erosion, fiscal capacity, and the government’s broader compensation philosophy.
Early projections from the 8th Pay Commission suggest the fitment factor, which is determined in relation to the economic inflation of a country, to be as high as 2.57, which will likely raise the central government salaries and pensions for nearly 1 crore employees and retirees.
“While the government has not declared an official number yet, early expectations place the 8th Pay Commission fitment factor in the range of 1.83 to 2.57,” CA Chandni Anandan, Tax Expert at Clear Tax, told Mint.
As per previous media reports, the current Pay Commission used a fitment factor of 2.57, but this does not mean that the salaries will be increased by the same amount.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or experts, and not of Mint.
