As the Winter Session of Parliament begins on December 1, central government employees are anxious about the 8th Pay Commission (8th CPC).
Key concerns include the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the new pay commission and whether the Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) will be revised from January 2026.
The confusion arises because the 7th CPC’s 10-year cycle ends on December 31, 2025, and the 8th Pay Commission’s report will only be submitted 18 months later.
Until then, employees and pensioners are unsure about salary and pension revisions.
Employee Concerns Over 8th CPC ToR
Soon after the government released the 8th CPC ToR, employee unions and the staff side of NC-JCM raised objections.
Many of their key demands were missing from the document, especially:
Pension revision for existing pensioners and family pensioners
Fixation anomalies, minimum wage issues, and fitment formula
Merging 50% of DA/DR with basic pay or pension
Interim relief of 20% from January 1, 2026
Restoration of the Old Pension Scheme by scrapping NPS/UPS
Release of pandemic-period DA/DR arrears
Removal of the 5% cap on compassionate appointments
Employees are frustrated because the government has not responded yet.
Many hope that Parliament discussions starting December 1 will bring clarity.
What Happens After December 31, 2025?
The 7th CPC ends on 31 December 2025, and the 8th CPC will take up to 18 months to submit its report.
After submission, Cabinet approval and implementation can take an additional 6 months.
Based on past trends, the 8th CPC may only be fully implemented by late 2027 or early 2028.
Two key questions arise for employees:
Will salary and pension revision be retrospective from January 1, 2026?
Will DA hikes stop after December 2025 until the 8th CPC is implemented?
Will 8th CPC Be Retrospective?
History gives a clear answer: yes.
7th CPC: Cabinet approval in June 2016, implemented retrospectively from January 1, 2016
6th CPC: Cabinet approval in August 2008, implemented retrospectively from January 1, 2006
Even if the 8th CPC finalizes later, salary and pension revisions will be effective from January 1, 2026, and arrears will be paid accordingly.
Will DA Hikes Be Paused?
Employees worry about the DA cycle starting January 2026.
Past practice shows:
DA continued uninterrupted after every pay commission cycle
DA increased twice a year (January and July) until the new pay structure was implemented
Once implemented, DA merged with new basic pay and restarted from zero
So, for 2026 and 2027:
DA hikes will continue twice a year based on the current 7th CPC basic pay
Only when the 8th CPC is implemented will the accumulated DA merge into the new basic pay
Currently, DA for central employees is 58% of basic pay after the last revision of 3%.
There is no reason to expect any pause in DA increases unless the government issues a special order, which is unlikely.
