8th Pay Commission: The timeline for rolling out the Eighth Pay Commission hasn’t been revealed yet. There’s talk that it might kick off as soon as January 1, 2026. But, the complete rollout could stretch until 2028. Because of this, many are wondering if the government will keep adjusting the Dearness Allowance (DA) until the new Pay Commission is in place, or if employees will have to hold off for a salary bump until then.

So, what’s going to happen with DA until the 8th Pay Commission is up and running?

Until the new Pay Commission is active, the dearness allowance will still be calculated based on a percentage of the basic pay. It gets updated every six months, in January and July. This means that dearness allowance will keep coming in until the 8th Pay Commission is set up. Once it’s in place, the current DA will be added to the basic pay, which means the existing 58% DA will drop to zero.

Salary, pension, and allowances will be updated

The 8th Central Pay Commission is set to revise the salaries, pensions, and allowances for central government employees. It will consider inflation, what employees need, and what the government can afford. On October 28, the central government gave the green light to the 8th Pay Commission’s terms of reference. Now, once the commission is established, it will provide its recommendations within 18 months.

Let’s break down how the salary calculation works for the 8th pay scale.

The increase in basic salary hinges on the fitment factor and the DA merger. The fitment factor for the 7th Pay Commission was 2.57, and for the 8th, it might be around 2.46. DA starts at zero with each Pay Commission because the new basic salary is already adjusted for inflation. After that, DA will gradually increase again. Right now, DA is 58% of the basic pay. With DA being removed, the total salary increase (basic + DA + HRA) might look a bit lower since the 58% DA part will no longer be included.

Example:

Suppose you are at Level 6 and your current salary as per 7th Pay Commission is:

Basic Pay: Rs 35,400
DA (58%): Rs 20,532
HRA (Metro, 27%): Rs 9,558
Total Salary: Rs 65,490
If fitment 2.46 is implemented in the 8th Pay Commission, the new salary will be:

New Basic Pay: Rs 35,400 x 2.46 = Rs 87,084
DA: 0% (reset)
HRA (27%): Rs 87,084 x 27% =Rs 23,513
Total Salary: Rs 87,084 + Rs 23,513 =Rs 1,10,597

What is fitment factor?

This is a multiplier number that is multiplied by the current basic salary to arrive at the new basic salary. The Pay Commission sets it after taking inflation and cost of living into account.