Quick answer: The 8th Central Pay Commission completes one year today, 3 November 2026. In twelve months it has taken written suggestions from employees and unions and held at least 15 rounds of meetings across the country. It has not submitted a report, and it has not announced a fitment factor, a pay matrix or a date of effect. Its 18-month deadline falls in early May 2027. Until the government accepts a report, pay continues under the 7th CPC, with DA at 63% from 1 July 2026.
Twelve months is long enough for a lot of noise. WhatsApp forwards have "fixed" the fitment factor several times over, and salary charts circulate with figures that no official body has published. This report separates the official record from everything else. It sets out what the Commission has finished, what is still open, and the one number you can work out today: the fitment factor below which there would be no real pay increase at all.
The one-year scorecard
Last updated: 3 November 2026. Every row is taken from a government resolution, a press release, a Commission notice or a reply in Parliament. This table is updated when the official position changes.
| Item | Status on 3 November 2026 | Official record |
|---|---|---|
| Terms of Reference | Approved by the Union Cabinet on 28 October 2025 | PIB, 28 Oct 2025 |
| Commission constituted | 3 November 2025, by Department of Expenditure resolution F. No. 01-01/2025-E.III(A) | Gazette resolution |
| Members | Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (Chairperson), Prof. Pulak Ghosh (Member, part-time), Pankaj Jain (Member-Secretary) | 8cpc.gov.in |
| Online questionnaire | Closed on 31 March 2026 | 8cpc.gov.in |
| Memorandum submissions | Closed on 15 June 2026, after two extensions | 8cpc.gov.in |
| Meetings with stakeholders | At least 15 rounds, from Dehradun in April to Mumbai on 22–23 October 2026 | Commission visit notices |
| Interim report | Allowed by the Terms of Reference; none submitted or notified | No notice found |
| Final report | Not submitted | Lok Sabha reply, 10 Aug 2026 |
| Fitment factor and pay matrix | Not announced | None issued |
| Date of effect | Not decided. The government said it "would normally be expected from 01.01.2026" | PIB, 28 Oct 2025 |
| Merging DA into basic pay | "No proposal" under consideration | Lok Sabha, 1 Dec 2025 |
| DA under the 7th CPC | 63% from 1 July 2026, approved on 28 October 2026 | PIB, 28 Oct 2026 |
Note the wording on the date of effect. "Would normally be expected" describes the ten-year pattern of past commissions. It is not an order fixing 1 January 2026, and no later notification has fixed it.
How the year unfolded
Set-up: October and November 2025
The government announced in January 2025 that an 8th Pay Commission would be formed. The Cabinet approved its Terms of Reference on 28 October 2025, and the Department of Expenditure published the resolution constituting it on 3 November 2025. The resolution gives the Commission 18 months from that date to report and allows interim reports on any matter. It names the groups covered: central government employees, All India Services, the defence forces, Union Territory staff and some other central bodies. For the full coverage list, see who gets the 8th Pay Commission.
Collecting views: February to June 2026
The Commission first ran an online questionnaire, which closed on 31 March 2026. On 5 March it opened an online memorandum format for unions, associations and other bodies, and the government said that submissions by paper, email or PDF might not be considered. The memorandum deadline moved twice, from 30 April to 31 May and then to 15 June 2026. That window is now closed.
The largest employee-side submission came from the NC-JCM Staff Side, which asked for a minimum pay of ₹69,000 and a fitment factor of 3.833. Other bodies asked for different figures. These are demands, and the Commission has not responded to any of them publicly. We compare them in 8th Pay Commission demands: NC-JCM, BPMS, IRTSA compared.
Meetings across the country: April to October 2026
Only bodies that had filed a memorandum could ask to meet the Commission, using the "Unique Memo ID" generated on submission. The rounds announced through Commission notices so far:
| Place | Dates |
|---|---|
| Dehradun, Uttarakhand | 24 April 2026 |
| Delhi (first round) | 13–14 May 2026 |
| Hyderabad, Telangana | 18–19 May 2026 |
| Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir | 1–4 June 2026 |
| Union Territory of Ladakh | 8 June 2026 |
| Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | 22–23 June 2026 |
| Bhubaneswar, Odisha | 6–7 July 2026 |
| Kolkata, West Bengal | 9–10 July 2026 |
| Delhi (second round) | 7 and 10 August 2026 |
| Jaipur, Rajasthan | 31 August – 1 September 2026 |
| Chennai, Tamil Nadu | 7–8 September 2026 |
| Puducherry | 9 September 2026 |
| Chandigarh | 16–18 September 2026 |
| Bengaluru, Karnataka | 7–8 October 2026 |
| Mumbai, Maharashtra | 22–23 October 2026 |
The Hyderabad notice said separate meetings would be held at Visakhapatnam "in due course". We have not found a dated notice for it. Mumbai is the latest visit for which a notice has been published, and no further city visit had been announced as of 3 November 2026. New notices appear first on the Commission's What's New page.
Where it stands today
On 10 August 2026 the government told the Lok Sabha that the Commission had not yet submitted its recommendations. Nothing published since suggests otherwise. Meanwhile the ordinary DA cycle has carried on under the 7th CPC: DA went to 60% from 1 January 2026 and to 63% from 1 July 2026. You can work out your monthly DA with the DA calculator and your July–October difference with the DA arrears calculator.
The fitment factor nobody needs to guess: 1.60
No one can know the 8th CPC fitment factor until the report is out. One number can be worked out today, though, and it explains most of the confusion around fitment factors.
When a pay commission revises pay, it has historically folded the DA already earned into the new basic pay, and DA then restarts from zero. So part of any fitment factor only preserves what you already get. The 7th CPC is the clearest example. DA was 125% on its reference date of 1 January 2016, so basic pay plus DA equalled 2.25 times basic. Its fitment factor of 2.57 was therefore about 2.25 to keep pay level, plus roughly 14% (2.57 ÷ 2.25 = 1.142) of real increase.
Apply the same arithmetic to 1 January 2026. DA on that date was 60%, so basic pay plus DA equals 1.60 times basic. A fitment factor of 1.60 would leave pay unchanged on that date. Only the part above 1.60 is a real increase.
| 7th CPC level (entry pay) | Basic pay | Basic + DA at 60% (1 Jan 2026) | Basic + DA at 63% (from 1 Jul 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | ₹18,000 | ₹28,800 | ₹29,340 |
| Level 2 | ₹19,900 | ₹31,840 | ₹32,437 |
| Level 6 | ₹35,400 | ₹56,640 | ₹57,702 |
| Level 10 | ₹56,100 | ₹89,760 | ₹91,443 |
Formula: basic pay × (1 + DA rate). For Level 1 on 1 January 2026, ₹18,000 × 1.60 = ₹28,800. Under any fitment factor, revised basic pay for Level 1 would have to exceed ₹28,800 before it gives a real raise as of that date. For comparison, the staff side's demand of 3.833 equals 3.833 ÷ 1.60 ≈ 2.40 times pay plus DA, a real increase of about 140%.
Read this table with two assumptions in mind. The first is that the Commission uses 1 January 2026 as its reference date. The second is that it absorbs DA into pay as past commissions did. Neither has been decided, and the Commission can choose a different method. Use the table to read fitment-factor claims critically, not as a forecast. To test other factors on your own pay, use the fitment factor calculator.
How arrears would work, whatever the date
Arrears are the difference between what you are entitled to under revised pay and what you actually drew, for each month from the date of effect until revised pay starts. For any month, in simple terms:
Arrear = (revised pay + allowances at revised rates) − (pay + DA + allowances actually drawn)
Three practical points follow from this:
- DA increases in the meantime are not lost. The 60% and 63% DA you draw under the 7th CPC counts as "drawn" and is set off against the revised entitlement when arrears are worked out. A DA hike now therefore reduces the eventual arrear, but it does not reduce what you receive in total.
- The gap between the date of effect and actual implementation decides how large arrears become. The 7th CPC took effect from 1 January 2016, but its recommendations were implemented on 29 June 2016, so about six months were paid as arrears. If 1 January 2026 is adopted for the 8th CPC, January 2026 to April 2027 alone is 16 months, before the report deadline even arrives.
- Keep your own records. Payroll and DDO offices should preserve month-wise records of pay, DA and allowances actually paid from January 2026 onwards. Employees should keep their payslips. Arrears are computed from these.
The exact method will come from the government's implementing orders after it accepts the report. The formula above is the general principle, not a substitute for those orders. For what the date of effect means in practice, see 8th Pay Commission implementation date and arrears.
The next six months: what is on record
Report deadline: 18 months from 3 November 2025, which is around 3 May 2027. The deadline can be extended. The 7th CPC, constituted on 28 February 2014, submitted its report on 19 November 2015, nearly 21 months later.
DA keeps moving: until revised pay is notified, DA continues to be revised every six months under the 7th CPC formula. The next revision is due from 1 January 2027, worked out from the 12-month average of the consumer price index for industrial workers up to December 2026.
Once the report is in, the path to revised pay follows the same order as past commissions:
- 1. Report submittedThe Commission hands its recommendations to the government, due around May 2027 unless extended.
- 2. Government decidesThe government examines the report and decides what to accept. For the 7th CPC this took about seven months, from November 2015 to June 2016.
- 3. Orders notifiedThe fitment factor, pay matrix, date of effect and arrears are formally notified, and revised pay starts.
- 4. States decideState government employees get revised pay only if and when their own state decides.
What you can do now
- There is nothing to file. The questionnaire and memorandum windows have closed. The Commission has not announced any registration for individual employees or pensioners, so treat messages asking you to "register" for 8th CPC benefits with suspicion.
- Check claims against the source. Commission notices appear on 8cpc.gov.in, and Cabinet decisions on PIB. If a figure is not there, treat it as unconfirmed. Our guide to the 8th Pay Commission official website shows where to look.
- Pensioners: the government told Parliament in December 2025 that the Commission will make recommendations on pension as well. November is also the month to submit your annual life certificate so that pension continues without a break. See 8th Pay Commission for pensioners.
- Retiring before the report: your position depends on the date of effect the government eventually adopts. We explain the scenarios in retiring before the 8th Pay Commission.
Related: 8th Pay Commission guide, DA merger and the 8th CPC and implementation date and arrears.
Want to test a fitment factor on your own pay? Use the free 8th CPC salary calculator, or work out pending DA with the DA arrears calculator. No app, no download, no login.
Frequently asked questions
Has the 8th Pay Commission given an interim report or interim relief?
No. The Terms of Reference allow interim reports, but none has been submitted or notified, and no interim relief has been announced.
Can I still send my suggestions to the 8th Pay Commission?
Not through the formal channels. The questionnaire closed on 31 March 2026 and the memorandum window on 15 June 2026. Bodies that filed a memorandum could request meetings during city visits.
Is 1 January 2026 confirmed as the date of effect?
No. The government said in October 2025 that the effect "would normally be expected" from 1 January 2026, following past practice. A date is fixed only when the government decides on the report.
Will DA be merged with basic pay before the report?
The government told Parliament in December 2025 that no proposal to merge DA with basic pay is under consideration. Read more in 8th Pay Commission and DA merger.
Position as of 3 November 2026. Sources: Department of Expenditure resolution of 3 November 2025, PIB releases of 28 October 2025, 5 March 2026 and 28 October 2026, notices on 8cpc.gov.in, and replies in Parliament of 1 December 2025 and 10 August 2026. The break-even and arrears sections are explanations of arithmetic and past practice, not predictions of what the 8th CPC will recommend. General information, not legal or financial advice.