8th Pay Commission: Central government employees and pensioners in India are left confused by the continuing delay in announcing the implementation date for the 8th pay commission.
What Has Been Announced Till Now?
The Indian government approved the year’s final dearness allowance hike in the month of October 2025, offering some immediate respite from rising prices. An additional installment of DA to central government employees and dearness relief (DR) to pensioners was approved by the Union Cabinet w.e.f. July 1, 2025.
Under the 7th pay commission, the last DA and DR hike was in October as its terms end on December 31, 2025.
Ideally, the 8th pay commission had to start from January 1, 2026, but no clarity on it has been received as of now.
This has created confusion in the minds of central government employees and pensioners as to how their DA and DR will be calculated and paid.
When will 8th Pay Commission be implemented?
Ideally, pensioners and central government employees should get arrears from January 1, 2026, as the 7th pay commission’s term ends on December 31, 2025.
Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State, Finance Ministry, did not clarify the exact date for the implementation of the 8th pay commission. It was commented that the Union government will make appropriate provisions of funds before implementing the accepted recommendations of the 8th CPC. Clearly, this will not happen on or before January 1, 2026, as a lot of formalities and paperwork are yet to be completed.
It is widely believed that the entire process may take another 3-6 months before the report gets approved and a notification regarding the same is listed.
