8th Pay Commission News: With the term of the 7th Pay Commission slowly approaching its end, over 1.2 crore central government employees and pensioners are clueless about the progress of the 8th Pay Commission. The Centre announced the formation of the new pay commission in January this year, which led to expectations that the Terms of Reference (ToR) would be finalised by April and the panel would start working on its agenda thereafter.
However, the government is yet to finalise the ToR even after six months of announcing the formation of the 8th pay panel.
Amidst all this, one big question every government employee is asking is when will the 8th Pay Commission finally start working and submit to the Centre its recommendations? Based on the panel’s recommendations, the government will revise the salaries and pensions of serving employees and retirees.
Uncertainty growing among employees and pensioners
There is a lot of confusion with regard to 8th pay panel progress. A lot of rumours are there. On the one hand, some sections of the media are constantly running reports on the estimates of salary hike, fitment factor and possible dates of implementation, while on the other hand, the ground reality is that the official process of the Commission is still in a standstill.
It’s been more than six months since the announcement, but till date neither the name of the chairman of the commission has been decided, nor the ToR has come out.
This has led to various pensioners’ organisations and employee unions raising the issue at various forums and writing letters to the government. These employees’ representative bodies have pleaded that the process of formation of the commission be expedited.
Is January 2026 8th Pay Commission deadline possible now?
From January to now July 2025, the process of the commission has been extremely slow. In April, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) invited applications for four under-secretary level posts under the commission, the last date of which was later extended twice to July 31. But so far there has been no official announcement regarding the appointment of the chairman or members of the commission. This, according to experts, makes it clear that there is a lack of priority on the part of the government regarding this process, and the 2026 deadline is no longer practical.
The first and most important link in the process of the pay commission is – ToR i.e. what points the commission will consider. But till now there is no clarity on ToR from the government. Employee organisations have expressed their concerns on this through various channels and at several forums. Till the ToR and appointments are not made, the work of the commission cannot start.
When will 8th Pay Commission recommendations be implemented?
Now the question arises that when it has not been formed yet, when will its recommendations come and when will they be implemented?
Timelines of the last two pay commissions:
6th Pay Commission: Formed in October 2006, report in March 2008, approved in August 2008 – Implementation from January 1, 2006 retrospectively.
7th Pay Commission: Formed in February 2014, report in November 2015, approved in June 2016 – Implementation from January 1, 2016 retrospectively.
According to this, even if the 8th Pay Commission is formed by August-September 2025, it will take at least 18 to 24 months for the report to come. That is, the report will probably come only by the beginning of 2027. After this, the government may also take 6–8 months to review and implement the recommendations.
Summing up…
What was envisioned to be implemented from January 1, 2026, now seems almost impossible. If the current pace continues, the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission will be implemented only by the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028.
Even though the government has officially announced the commission, until the ToR and key appointments are made, employees will have to make do with mere speculation. In such a situation, it is important that employee organisations and stakeholders should not only put pressure on the government to speed up the process, but also keep their expectations within a practical framework.