The 8th Pay Commission has announced its meeting schedule for Mumbai, Maharashtra, where it will meet central government employees, pensioners and other stakeholders on October 22 and 23, 2026. The pay commission had already announced the meeting schedule for Bengaluru, where it will meet stakeholders on October 7 and 8. It has completed its September round of discussions in Chandigarh, Chennai, Puducherry and Jaipur.

In all such discussions, employee bodies have raised issues of salary and fitment factor prominently. These two will be the key elements in central government employees’ basic salary revision.

A 2.57 fitment factor in the 7th Pay Commission meant that the basic salary of an employee in the 6th Pay Commission was multiplied by 2.57 to form their new basic pay. While their basic salary increased by 2.57 times, their gross salary grew by only 14.28%. Why was there such a large difference between basic pay and gross pay? Can it also happen in the 8th Pay Commission? Can a Level 8 employee get a 58% gross salary hike in the 8th Pay Commission, where their gross pay may jump up to Rs 1.51 lakh monthly?

Also Read: 8th Pay Commission calculator: Can Level 8 employees get Rs 18 lakh in arrears for report implementation delay?

Average gross salary hike at different pay commissions

Why are basic salary hike and gross salary hike not the same under a pay commission?

The difference between the revised basic pay and the gross pay in a pay commission can arise mainly because of the prevailing dearness allowance (DA) rate. If the DA rate at the time of salary revision is higher, the gross pay hike can be less.

Let’s take the example of the last two pay commissions. When the 6th Pay Commission report was notified, the DA rate of the 5th Pay Commission was 47%. It means that central government employees were already getting a fitment factor of 1.47 under the 5th CPC. So, when the government set a fitment factor of 1.86 for the 6th CPC, the gross salary jump was approximately 54%.

However, it’s not just the DA, the government also takes into consideration the prevailing house rent allowance (HRA) and the transport allowance (TPTA) to calculate the fitment factor.

Also Read: 8th Pay Commission: Pensioners seek 11-year restoration period of commuted pension, cite HC judgment

In contrast, the 7th Pay Commission delivered a comparatively much higher fitment factor of 2.57. But when the report was notified in June 2016, the DA rate was 125%. 125% DA means employees were already getting a fitment factor of 2.25 under the 6th CPC. So, the average gross salary hike was just 14.29% despite a 2.57 fitment factor.

Can the same thing happen in the 8th Pay Commission?

It depends on the DA rate at the time of 8th CPC report approval. The current DA rate is 60%, which may reach approximately 66% if the report is approved in the second half of 2027. The gross salary hike is likely to depend on that rate. However, the real growth rate will be known once the central government approves the pay commission report.

Also Read: 8th Pay Commission: Can Level 10 employees get up to Rs 57,000/month HRA?

Can a Level 8 employee get Rs 1.51 lakh/month gross salary under the 8th Pay Commission?

Since the gross salary of employees will depend on the fitment factor that the government decides, the illustrative calculation calculates the gross salary hike at 2.0, 2.38 and 2.57 fitment factors.

Assumption

Disclaimer: Illustrative estimates based on assumed fitment factors; final pay and allowances may vary. Source: BankBazaar.com

In the calculations, we can see that at a 2.57 fitment factor, the estimated gross pay for a Level 8 employee can be around Rs 1.52 lakh, which means a 68% gross pay hike. However, the real gross pay growth will be known only when the 8th Pay Commission’s report is notified.