8th Pay Commission: Stakeholder Consultations and Fitment Factor Expectations

The 8th Pay Commission (8th CPC) is gearing up to hold discussions with employee and pensioner groups, along with other stakeholders in Jaipur on August 31-September 2026. Following that, similar meetings will take place in Chennai and Puducherry in the second week of September. As these meetings progress, the deadline for the 8th Pay Commission to submit its report, set for May 2027 (18 months from November 2025) is approaching fast.

Meanwhile, central government employees, are eagerly anticipating a higher fitment factor, which could significantly boost their basic salaries under the 8th Pay Commission.

The 7th Pay Commission had decided on a 2.57 fitment factor, which multiplied employees’ existing salaries by 2.57 times. For the 8th Pay Commission, many employee and pensioner bodies have been demanding a fitment factor of over 3.8. However, experts believe that the pay commission may pick a fitment factor in the range of 2.0-2.50.

Since the fitment factor is the multiplier of the basic pay, a high fitment factor can significantly boost the basic pay in the 8th Pay Commission.

For example, the basic salary of a Level 5 employee according to the 7th Pay Commission is Rs 29,200. At a 2.0 fitment factor, it can reach Rs 58,400; at a 2.25 fitment factor, it can be Rs 62,780; at 2.57, it can jump to Rs 74,044.

The National Council - Joint Consultative Machinery (staff side), the main central government employees’ body, has demanded a 3.833 fitment factor from the 8th Pay Commission. The All India Defence Employees’ Federation (AIDEF) and the Bharat Pensioners’ Samaj have also demanded the same fitment factor while the Bhartiya Pratiraksh Mazdoor Sangh has demanded a 4.0 fitment factor from the 8th CPC.

In the past, employee and pensioner bodies have demanded high fitment factors from pay commissions. The NC (JCM) demanded a 3.71 fitment factor from the 7th Pay Commission, but the government approved a 2.57 multiplier.

For the 8th Pay Commission, many experts believe a fitment factor in the range of 2.0-2.25 is more likely.

Level 5-8 employees form the backbone of the central government’s administrative workforce. These employees hold senior clerical and technical posts, are junior engineers, divisional accountants, section officers, inspectors and senior supervisors.

Since we will be calculating the estimated basic salary hike of Level 5-8 employees, let’s have a look at their salaries as per the 7th Pay Commission pay matrix.

Pay Level: Level 5 (Rs 29,200), Level 6 (Rs 35,400), Level 7 (Rs 44,900), Level 8 (Rs 47,600).

We will calculate the estimated revised basic pay of Level 5-8 employees at 2.0, 2.1, 2.25 and 2.57 fitment factor.

Estimated revised basic pay of Level 5 employees: At 2.00x: Rs 58,400; 2.10x: Rs 61,320; 2.25x: Rs 65,700; 2.57x: Rs 75,044.

Estimated revised basic pay of Level 6 employees: At 2.00x: Rs 70,800; 2.10x: Rs 74,340; 2.25x: Rs 79,650; 2.57x: Rs 90,978.

Estimated revised basic pay of Level 7 employees: At 2.00x: Rs 89,800; 2.10x: Rs 94,290; 2.25x: Rs 1,01,025; 2.57x: Rs 1,15,393.