8th Pay Commission- The 8th Pay Commission was announced in January 2025. But the terms of reference of the commission are not yet finalized. In such a situation, the question of when the new pay scale will be implemented remains unanswered.
While the announcement of the 8th Pay Commission in January this year brought a ray of hope for central government employees and pensioners, there are fears that they may have to wait until 2028 to get the benefits of the pay hike due to the slow pace of the commission’s work.
The terms of reference (ToR) of the commission, announced in January 2025, are yet to be finalised, and the appointment of the chairman and members of the commission has not been made. This delay has increased the discontent among over 1 crore employees and pensioners across the country.
The central government announced the 8th Pay Commission in January 2025. The commission is responsible for reviewing the salaries, allowances and other benefits of central employees and preparing new recommendations. But even after seven months, the ToR that sets out the framework for the functioning of the commission is yet to be finalised. Employee unions, which have written to the government in this regard, have urged it to take immediate action.
The Finance Ministry said it is collecting suggestions from various ministries, state governments and employee organizations and will soon finalize the ToR and issue a formal notification. Given the timeline of the 7th Pay Commission, the process of the 8th Pay Commission is also likely to take a long time. The 7th Pay Commission was announced in September 2013.
Five months later, the ToR was released in February 2014, and the members of the commission were appointed in March. The report was submitted in November 2015, and the recommendations were implemented in June 2016. Overall, the process took about 33 months (i.e. 2 years and 9 months).
If a similar timeline is assumed for the 8th Pay Commission, even if the ToR is finalized in August 2025, the implementation of the recommendations may have to wait until January 2028. However, the benefits of the pay hike will be included in the calculation from January 1, 2026, and the balance amount may be available in 2028.
The delay has led to growing dissatisfaction among central employees’ unions. The draft proposal submitted to the government by the National Joint Consultative Mechanism (NC-JCM) has sought reforms in the pay structure, increase in allowances, and improvements in pension benefits. The unions have demanded that the government finalise the ToR quickly and start the work of the commission at the earliest.
It is not necessary that the 7th Pay Commission will be delayed as long as it was. If the government finalises the ToR on priority and the Commission submits its report quickly, the recommendations could be implemented by 2026. However, given the current slow pace, this seems unlikely. The experience of the 7th Pay Commission makes it clear that this type of process takes a lot of time.
If the 8th Pay Commission follows the same pattern, central employees and pensioners may have to wait till 2028. However, the salary benefits and arrears that will be included in the calculation from January 1, 2026, will be available after implementation.