8th Pay Commission Update: Salary Jump from Rs 18,000 to Rs 58,500 Under 3.25 Formula?

8th Pay Commission Update: Central employees are eagerly waiting for the Eighth Pay Commission’s recommendations. Although it will take about 18 to 20 months for these recommendations to be put into action, many are already crunching the numbers. The fitment factor is set to be a key element in the Pay Commission’s suggestions. The Seventh Pay Commission used this factor to determine salary hikes, and it seems likely that it will be the foundation once more. This factor is calculated by multiplying it with the basic salary. So, the big question is: what will the fitment factor be?

What’s the demand?

Employee organizations are pushing for a fitment factor between 2.86 and 3.25. If the higher factor of 3.25 is adopted, the current minimum basic salary could jump from Rs 18,000 to Rs 58,500. It’s worth mentioning that the Seventh Pay Commission set the fitment factor at 2.57, which raised the minimum salary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000.

Meeting on the horizon

The Drafting Committee of the Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) of the National Council (Staff Side) is set to meet in New Delhi on February 25, 2026, to go over the demands for the Eighth Pay Commission. This gathering will work on a joint memorandum of requests from employees and pensioners. The talks are expected to take about a week. Besides the fitment factor, employee groups are also asking for a 5% annual salary hike, a review of house rent allowance (HRA), a new framework for dearness allowance (DA), and a formula for pension revision.

Why the fitment factor is super important?

• Out of all the topics like pay revisions, allowances, service conditions, and pensions, the fitment factor is definitely the key player.
• The fitment factor acts as the multiplier for adjusting basic pay. For instance:
• The 7th Pay Commission applied a fitment factor of 2.57
• This bumped the minimum basic pay up from Rs 7,000 (6th CPC) to Rs 18,000.
• Currently, employee representatives are saying that due to inflation and the increasing cost of living, a much higher multiplier is needed for the 8th Pay Commission.

Website Launch

The 8th Pay Commission website, https://8cpc.gov.in/, has just been launched. The government is welcoming suggestions and feedback from interested parties and stakeholders, which is a relief for millions of central government employees and pensioners. The Narendra Modi-led government announced the 8th Pay Commission back in January 2025.

A few months later, on November 3 of last year, the Finance Ministry formally notified it. Furthermore, the government approved the Terms of Reference (ToR), requiring the 8th Pay Commission to submit its recommendations within 18 months for the revision of salaries, pensions, and other allowances for central government employees and pensioners. The Seventh Pay Commission’s term ended on December 31, 2025. The Eighth Pay Commission’s recommendations are now scheduled to be implemented from January 1, 2026.