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8th Pay Commission: According to reports, the fitment factor can be hiked to up to 2.86, resulting in pensions increasing from the current Rs 9,000 to anywhere between Rs 22,500 and Rs 25,200.
8th Pay Commission: With an expected hike in the fitment factor leading to a hike in salaries, changes in pension structures are also expected.
8th Pay Commission: Days before the Budget 2025 is tabled, the Union Cabinet has approved the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries and other allowances for central government employees. Apart from the salaries, the pensions of the central government employees are also set to be revised.
With the 7th Pay Commission nearing the end of its term in 2026, the decision to set up the new commission was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The chairman and two commission members will be appointed and consultations between central and state ministers and other stakeholders will be done for the corresponding decisions.
As part of the 8th Pay Commission, central government employees can expect salary hikes followed by adjustments in allowance. Likely, the fitment factor — used to calculate salaries and pensions for the employees — will be hiked from 2.57 to 2.86. Consequently, the basic minimum could be raised from Rs 18,000 to Rs 51,480.
It is worth mentioning a pay commission is constituted by the Centre every 10 years to revise the salary structure of central government employees. Besides revising its salary structure, the pay commission also has a term of reference (ToR) broadly defining its focus and revising pension payments. As of now, there are49 lakh central government employees and nearly 65 lakh pensioners are likely to be affected by the upcoming 8th Pay Commission.
With an expected hike in the fitment factor leading to a hike in salaries, changes in pension structures are also expected.
8th Pay Commission: Changes In Pension Structure
Currently, the central government employees and pensioners receive the salaries and pension based on the 7th Pay Commission which came into effect in January 2016 and will end in 2026. According to experts, the fitment factor can be hiked to up to 2.86, resulting in pensions increasing from the current Rs 9,000 to anywhere between Rs 22,500 and Rs 25,200, as per a Financial Express report.
Apart from the hike in the basic pension allowance other perks will also have a massive revision. With that said, with the implementation of the 2.86 fitment factor, there would be an increase of approximately 186 per cent in the salary structures, considering the crucial role it plays in revised pension.
According to an Economic Times report, Nihal Bhardwaj, senior associate at SKV Law Offices said that the pensions under the 8th Pay Commission are likely to increase in line with the salary revisions. An average hike of 25 per cent to 30 per cent is anticipated, further adding that the past commissions also did the same.
With the decided fitment factor of 2.57 in the 7th Pay Commission, the minimum basic salary was raised from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000. The minimum pension also rose from Rs 2,500 to Rs 9,000.
