8th Pay Commission Delay: Govt Staff May Have To Wait Until 2028 For Salary Hike

New Delhi: In January this year, the Modi government announced the formation of the 8th Central Pay Commission. This commission, set up once every 10 years, reviews and revises salaries, pensions, and allowances of central government employees and pensioners.

However, even after seven months, there has been no real progress. The Terms of Reference (ToR), which outline the commission’s scope, are still not ready. Also, the members and chairman have not yet been appointed. This delay has worried over 1 crore central employees and pensioners. Their unions have written to the government asking for updates. The Finance Ministry has said it is gathering inputs from states, ministries, and employee groups before issuing the formal notification.

What Happened with the 7th Pay Commission?

Looking back, the 7th Pay Commission took almost 3 years from its announcement to the implementation of its recommendations.

Announcement: 25 September 2013 (UPA government)

ToR Notification: 28 February 2014 (5 months later)

Appointment of Members: 4 March 2014 (just 4 days after ToR)

Report Submission: 19 November 2015 (after 1 year 8 months)

Implementation: 29 June 2016 (7 months after report submission, effective from 1 January 2016)

So, the full process took about 2 years and 9 months.

What This Means for the 8th Pay Commission

The 8th Pay Commission was announced on 16 January 2025. If it follows the same pace as the 7th Commission, the final implementation may not happen before late 2027 or early 2028.

So far:

The announcement has been made.

The Staff Side of NC-JCM (a platform for government-employee dialogue) has given draft proposals with demands.

But the ToR and appointments are still pending.

If the government issues the ToR by August 2025, and the process follows the 7th Commission’s timeline, then recommendations may only be implemented by January 2028.

Even if the implementation happens late, the salary and pension revisions will be retrospective from 1 January 2026.