The 8th Pay Commission has called meetings with various employee groups to gather information before making recommendations, as reported by Mint. The last DA hike was announced in April 2026, when the Finance Ministry increased DA from 58% to 60% of basic salary, effective from 1 January 2026. DA and dearness relief (DR) are a percentage of employees' and pensioners' basic salary specifically aimed at mitigating inflationary impact on households of central government employees. According to government data, retail inflation in April 2026 rose to 3.48%, while food inflation climbed to 4.20%, putting pressure on household budgets.
Central government employees awaiting the 8th Pay Commission report may receive arrears from January 1, 2026, but implementation has been delayed until the second half of 2027, according to financial expert Ramachandran Krishnamoorthy. The 8th Pay Commission was given 18 months to submit its report, with the deadline set for May 2027, unless it requests an extension from the Centre. Once the report is ready, a group of ministers will study it and provide inputs, followed by cabinet approval, which could take another 3-6 months for implementation. Employees may receive 20-24 months of arrears based on the final fitment factor and notification timeline, with the real magnitude of arrears dependent on the commission's fitment factor decision.
Around 50 lakh central government employees and about 65 lakh retired central government pensioners benefit from DA hikes, including defence and railway personnel and retirees, as reported by Mint. DA hikes are calculated on the 12-month average as per the method prescribed by the AICPI under the 7th Pay Commission. Under this system, there have been 10 hikes since 2021, with the highest at 11% in July 2021. The latest being 2% in April, and the past two hikes were 2% and 3%, respectively, for January and July 2025.
Dearness allowance arrears are expected to be paid as they are recalculated month-wise on the revised basic pay, following past pay commission practices, according to financial expert Ramachandran Krishnamoorthy. However, house rent allowance (HRA) and transport allowance (TPTA) arrears are unlikely to be paid based on historical precedents. HRA arrears are usually not paid as HRA is revised prospectively, while transport allowance arrears are generally not paid since it is a fixed amount. The revised pay is derived by applying the approved fitment factor to the existing 7th CPC basic pay, with a 2.0 fitment factor meaning the basic salary will be doubled in the new pay commission. Level 6 employees' estimated revised salary ranges from ₹70,800 to ₹90,978 depending on the fitment factor applied.
