8th pay commission: Chennai, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Bengaluru — Check full list of meeting dates in September, October

The 8th central pay commission (CPC) has notified about official state visits and stakeholder meetings across India in the months of September and October 2026 amid its consultation stage.

As per notices on its official portal, the commission plans to discuss a number of key issues with employee unions, representatives, groups, pensioner associations, federations, and other stakeholders during the visits before it releases its official recommendations.

The panel's decisions are expected to benefit more than 1 crore people, including around 50 lakh central government employees and nearly 65 lakh pensioners, including defence and railway personnel and retirees. Notably, central government employees and armed forces personnel account for about 0.7% of India's 60-crore workforce and nearly 9% of the country's formal sector.

Today, we take a look at the full list of cities the 8th CPC panel is scheduled to visit in September and October 2026 — from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, the union territories of Puducherry and Chandigarh, Karnataka's capital Bengaluru and the central railway department in Mumbai Zone.

8th CPC state visits in September, October — Full list

Since March, the commission has conducted multiple state visits to meet employee representative groups, unions and stakeholders to collect and analyse data before deciding on pay, allowances, and pension for employees and pensioners.

These meetings are significant as suggestions made by representatives are expected to play an important role in shaping the commission's deliberations. These unions and groups collectively represent a large number of employees and pensioners, including defence and railway staff. Below is the full list of meetings:

• Chennai — 7-8 September 2026: The 8th CPC will visit Chennai from 7-8 September (Monday-Tuesday). Stakeholders from Tamil Nadu, who submitted request for appointment on or before 18 August will be given slots.

• Puducherry — 9 September 2026: The 8th CPC will visit Puducherry on 9 September (Wednesday). Only stakeholders from the UT who submitted request for appointment on or before 18 August will be given slots.
• Chandigarh — 16-18 September 2026: The 8th CPC will visit Chandigarh from 16-18 September (Wednesday-Friday). Stakeholders from the UT and states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh who submitted request for appointment on or before 25 August will be given slots.
• Bengaluru — 7-8 October 2026: The 8th CPC will visit Bengaluru from 7-8 October (Wednesday-Thursday). Those seeking appointments have till 18 September to apply via the official portal.
• Mumbai, Maharashtra: Notably, while no date has been announced, the Railway Ministry last month said the commission intends to visit railway departments under the Central Railway (CR) Zone in Mumbai and seeks to gain firsthand experience of the workers and employees' working conditions.

8th CPC: What is the timeline and process?

Former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash
Desai is the Chair and the panel includes Member-Secretary — Pankaj Jain, a former IAS, and Member of the Commission — Professor Pulak Ghosh, tenured Professor of Finance, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Its official Terms of Reference (ToR) were released late last year.

The commission is examining changes that are desirable and feasible in the emoluments, including for pay (usually includes salary structure, pay matrix), allowances (usually include Dearness Allowance, Dearness Relief, HRA), and other facilities/benefits, in cash or kind (includes increment, promotions, etc.), having regard to rationalisation, contemporary functional requirements and specialised needs.

It closed submission of suggestions on 15 June and of data on 31 July. It also closed applications for consultants with the panel on 31 August. Notably, inputs were sought from labour representatives and groups, ministries, pension bodies, central government organisations / institutions, employee unions / associations, and other similar stakeholders.

As per the timeline, the commission is likely to announce its recommendations within 18 months since constitution (on 3 November 2025). This means February or April 2027 is the earliest we can get any official announcements on its decisions. But its absolute deadline to submit the report is May 2027.

Further, based on past trends, once the pay commission's recommendations are made, the rollout takes another two to three years to complete. This means that hikes announced in 2027 may only be fully implemented by 2029 or 2030.