8th Pay Commission: The 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) has rolled out its official website and is looking for feedback from stakeholders. This indicates that the Pay Commission has kicked off its work. Although it might take a few more months to finalize its recommendations, central government employees and pensioners are eager for these recommendations to be put into action quickly. They are urging the government to act on this. Once the 8th Central Pay Commission is implemented, the salaries of central government employees and pensioners will see an increase.
It’s still unclear if the 8th CPC will use the same fitment factor-based approach as the 7th Pay Commission for setting revised salaries, but if it does, a 60% dearness allowance could serve as the foundation for calculating the fitment factor.
According to the Labor Bureau, the All India CPI-IW Index for December 2025 stood at 148.2 points. Based on this, a 2% rise in DA is anticipated for the period from January to June 2026. Following this increase, the total DA under the 7th Pay Commission will hit 60.34%. The Union Cabinet is expected to approve the DA hike in March 2026. The 7th Pay Commission set January 1, 2016, as the baseline for calculating the DA rate fitment.
What was the fitment factor under the 7th CPC?
The 7th CPC came into effect on January 1, 2016. When determining the fitment factor, it was assumed that the DA rate on January 1, 2016, would be 125% of the basic salary. If the 8th CPC follows this same approach, then a 60% DA could be the basis for calculating the new fitment factor. The 7th CPC established the starting point for the first level of the new pay matrix at Rs 18,000, while the 6th CPC set the starting salary point for the pay band effective from 01.01.2006 at Rs 7,000.
So, the initial salary suggested by the 7th CPC was 2.57 times what it was on January 1, 2006. Plus, the 7th CPC advised that this fitment factor of 2.57 should be applied consistently to all employees.
How much can the fitment factor stay the same?
If an employee’s basic salary was 100 when the 7th Pay Commission started, then now, after factoring in the DA increases over the last decade, the salary has climbed to 160. This clearly indicates that the minimum fitment factor for the 8th Pay Commission should be 1.60. However, there are a few reasons why the final fitment factor might end up being higher. One reason is that during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, the government held back three DA increases for 18 months.
These increases were never given back to employees. If those DA hikes had been received on time, the DA today would be significantly more than 60%. This is why employee groups and experts are pushing hard for a higher fitment factor. Additionally, if we assume the 8th Pay Commission kicks in from January 2026, its recommendations probably won’t be put into action right away. History with past pay commissions shows it usually takes about two years for the report to be finalized and put into practice. DA could rise at least four times in that two-year span.
What other factors will influence the fitment factor?
Dearness Allowance (DA) is crucial in figuring out the fitment factor, but it’s not the only thing that matters. The 8th Pay Commission will also look at the government’s financial health and evaluate the potential impact on the treasury. Keeping pay equity across different services will be another significant consideration. Employee demands and morale will also be taken into account. The country’s economic growth and future inflation trends will play a vital role too. The final fitment factor will only be set after all these factors are weighed.
Sweta Mitra
Working in the media for last 7 years. The journey started in the year 2018. For the past few years, my working experience has been in Bengali media. Currently working at Timesbull.com. Here I write like Business, National, and Utility News. My favorite hobbies are listening to music, traveling, food,...
Related Stories
Business
Education
Business
Business
Education
latest news
Business
Auto
Business
Business