8th Pay Commission: The upcoming pay commission 8th CPC is much-awaited for government employees at both central and state levels. As per media reports, a big announcement is likely to take place on April 1 under the 8th CPC such as the terms of reference. Expectations of the appointment of its chairman and two members for the 8th CPC are also on the cards. Apart from this, reports have also stated that several allowances could be removed under the 8th CPC, like 101 allowances rejected in the 7th CPC. While the development in the 8th Pay Commission is keenly watched, here are the changes in the minimum pay scale of PSU employees and they increased over the period from 1st CPC to 7th CPC.

8th Pay Commission Allowances:

A major key focus area in a pay commission is generally the salary hike that is expected to improve the cost of living for government employees. In the 8th Pay Commission, a lot will depend on the fitment factor which is urged to be either 1.92, 2.08 or 2.86. However, a salary hike is not the only key component to watch out for in a pay commission! Various factors such as allowances restructuring, wage policies, dearness allowances, and pension and retirement benefits will also be eyed keenly.

Coming to allowances, a total of 196 allowances were recommended for the 7th Pay Commission, however, after review, only 95 allowances were approved. That being said, a total of 101 allowances were eliminated from the 7th CPC ambit.

Some of these 101 allowances were —- Accident Allowance; Acting Allowance; Air Despatch Pay; Air Steward Allowance; ASV Allowance; Allowance instead of Running Room Facilities; Camp Allowance; Cash Handling Allowance; Commercial Allowance; Desk Allowance; Extra Duty Allowance; Fixed Monetary Compensation; Family Planning Allowance; Family Accommodation Allowance (FAA); Handicapped Allowance; Higher Proficiency Allowance; Holiday Compensatory Allowance; Metropolitan Allowance; Overtime Allowance (OTA); Rent Free Accommodation; Savings Bank Allowance; Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance; Treasury Allowance; Tribal Area Allowance; Trip Allowance; Uniform Allowance; Vigilance Allowance and much more.

Some of these allowances were either abolished, subsumed or not included in the report.

8th Pay Commission April 2025 Expectations:

The central government announced the formation of the 8th Pay Commission last month. However, the appointment of its chairman and two members is still pending. The key focus now is on the Terms of Reference (ToR), which will define the scope and responsibilities of the commission, cited Angel One blog.

Notably, the final ToR for 8CPC is expected by April 2025.

1st CPC To 7th CPC Minimum Salary:

1. 7th Pay Commission:

7th Pay Commission effective from 2016, is the current pay scale for employees and pensioners. The chairman is Justice A K Mathur. Under 7CPC, minimum and maximum pay scale was increased to Rs 18,000 and Rs 2,50,000 per month. More than 10 million employees including pensioners are key beneficiaries of 7CPC.

2. 6th Pay Commission:

Chaired by Justice B.N. Srikrishna, 6th CPC was effective from October 2006 – March 2008. Under this pay commission, about 6 million employees benefitted, while their minimum and maximum salary rose to Rs 7,000 and Rs 80,000 per month.