8th Pay Commission: Expect Arrears, Say JCM Leaders As January 2026 Deadline Looms

Even as the Centre has finally announced the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, union leaders are not sure if the salaries of central government employees and pensions of retirees would be revised by Jan. 1, 2026.

Pay commissions are generally formed once in 10 years for the revision of salaries and pensions. The recommendations of the last pay panel—the 7th Pay Commission—came into effect from January 2016, which suggests that the next revision could be due from January 2026.

Although the government mentioned no deadline for wage revision while announcing the formation of the 8th Pay Commission on Wednesday, union leaders privy to the process said the revision ideally comes into effect not more than 10 years after the date of the last hike.

If the targeted date of implementation is missed, then the hike is usually implemented retrospectively to provide arrears, they said.

Two members of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery, or NC-JCM—an official platform to resolve disputes between the government and its staff through dialogue—suggested that employees "should expect arrears" this time as the 8th Pay Commission may seek time beyond Jan. 1 to submit its report.

"The date of implementation should be 01.01.2026. This is our demand. The 8th Pay Commission may take more time to submit its report, but the government should retrospectively implement the report from January 2026," said M Raghavaiah, president of the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen and NC-JCM (staff side) leader, while speaking to NDTV Profit.

Raghavaiah pointed out that the last pay panel—the 7th Pay Commission—was formed in February 2014, nearly two years before the targeted date of implementation. "The 7th Pay Commission took nearly 18 months to submit its report," he recalled.

After the report is submitted, the government scrutinises the recommendations before issuing its approval. The whole process—from formation of the commission to revision of the salaries—roughly takes over two years, union leaders said, but they expressed hope that the process would be expedited this time to some extent.

Usually, the norm is to roll out arrears if the targeted date of implementation is missed, Raghavaiah explained. "Even the 7th Pay Commission was implemented in July 2016, but the government provided arrears from January 2016 onwards. We expect similar arrears this time too."

NC-JCM (staff side) secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra is also of the view that government employees should expect arrears. While speaking to NDTV Profit last week, Mishra suggested that the date of the 8th Pay Commission's formation has already been delayed.

"We have been persistently raising this demand. The government should form the pay commission at the earliest, as even if the panel is formed now, it will take several months to submit its report. Employees will have to expect arrears," Mishra had said.

Mishra, who is also the secretary general of All India Railwaymen's Federation—the largest Railways employee union—also believes that the targeted date of implementation would be Jan. 1, 2026.

"The last salary hike came into effect from Jan. 1, 2016. As far as I know, no government can push the wage revision beyond 10 years. So even if that date is missed, the government should at least provide arrears to the employees and pensioners," he said.

Mishra, in an earlier conversation with this publication, also suggested that NC-JCM members will push for a "fitment factor of 2.86" for the revision of salaries and pensions. This is higher as compared to the fitment factor of 2.57 used by the 7th Pay Commission.

Amid demands raised by several employee forums for more than a year, the government on Wednesday finally announced its approval for the formation of the 8th Pay Commission.

The Centre's nod came a month after the finance ministry told the Parliament that no proposal for the constitution of the pay panel was then under consideration.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while briefing the press following Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "approved the setting up of the commission for the benefit of central government employees and workers.".

"Since 1947, seven pay commissions have been formed. The 7th Pay Commission came into effect in 2016. Its tenure will conclude in 2026. By deciding to form the 8th Pay Commission in 2025, we have sufficient time to receive recommendations well before the completion of the period of the 7th Pay Commission," he added.

An estimated 50 lakh central government employees and more than 65 lakh pensioners would benefit with the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission, government sources told NDTV Profit.

The implementation of the salary and pension hike usually has a significant impact on the exchequer. The implementation of the 7th Pay Commission in 2016 had an estimated impact of Rs 1.02 lakh crore on the exchequer, per official data.

However, the government sources who spoke to NDTV Profit pointed out that the 8th Pay Commission's implementation will significantly boost consumption and economic growth while also improving the quality of life for government employees.