8th Pay Commission: Will the method of increasing salaries change? Government's signals have sparked speculation..
With the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, the government has now given a major indication regarding the ongoing speculations about salary increases. The central government has clarified that the 8th Pay Commission will determine its own new methodology and process for preparing its recommendations, meaning the method of increasing salaries may be different from before.
In fact, as soon as the work of the 8th Central Pay Commission began, various claims were being made on social media regarding salary hikes, fitment factor, and arrears. However, the government's latest statement makes it clear that it would be premature to rely on these speculations.
What did the government say in the Lok Sabha?
On December 8, 2025, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that, "The 8th Central Pay Commission will determine its own methodology and process for preparing its recommendations." This answer was given to a question that asked whether the government would consider the grievances of employees and pensioners due to the delay in the work of the 8th Pay Commission.
What are the demands of employees and pensioners?
Since the release of the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 8th Pay Commission, several demands have been raised by employee organizations and pensioners, including:
Merging Dearness Allowance (DA) with basic salary
Clear provisions for pensioners in the 8th Pay Commission
Implementation of recommendations from January 1, 2026
Declaration of interim relief
However, the statement by the Minister of State for Finance makes it clear that the 8th Pay Commission will decide on all these issues, not the government directly.
When will the recommendations be released?
Experts believe that the 8th Pay Commission may take about 18 months to submit its report. This means that employees will have to wait for the final recommendations.
Why is the new formula not surprising? In fact, this is nothing new. All previous pay commissions have modified the methodology of their predecessors. For example, the 7th Pay Commission completely changed the structure of allowances and replaced the running pay band and grade pay system with a pay matrix.
Therefore, it is expected that the 8th Pay Commission may also introduce a new formula for salary increases. For now, it would be wise for employees and pensioners to ignore social media speculation and wait for the official recommendations.
Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from TV9. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.
