8th pay commission: HRA revision, minimum monthly transport allowance, salary increase — Check top demands by AINPSEF

8th pay commission: The All India NPS Employees Federation (AINPSEF) in its memorandum submitted to the 8th central pay commission (CPC) has made a list of demands that would increase pay for employees and pensioners.

The 8th pay commission (8th CPC) has entered its eight month and is undertaking state visits and meetings with various employee representative groups, unions and stakeholders to gather suggestions before releasing its official recommendations.

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

Top demands made by AINPSEF: Key Highlights

• Revised house rent allowance: According to a report by News24, the federation has demanded that HRA be revised upwards under the 8th CPC. It recommends 36% HRA for X category cities, 24% for Y category cities amd 12% for Z category cities. Further, another suggestion is that HRA be increase ever time Dearness Allowance is hiked.
• Revised family unit calculation: The AINPSEF has suggested that the commission change its calculation used to fixed salary for family units, it said. It has proposed that the family unit to be increased from 3 to 4.4 by including dependent parents — an effect increase in fitment factor from 2.05 to 2.10. The higher fitment factor will increase basic pay for central government employees across all levels.
• Increase transport allowance: The federation wants the commission to increase TA to ₹9,000 per month minimum for Level 1 employees, as per the report.

• Salary hike proposed: Based on its proposals, the AINPSEF has sought significant increase in salaries for employees, the report added. If the suggestions are implemented, salaries could increase from ₹37,080 to around ₹61,344 — up 65% for Level 1 central government employees.

8th CPC: Meetings, discussions still ongoing

The commission closed its submission window for suggestions on 15 June and for data on 30 June. Constituted every 10 years, the panel is likely to make its official announcement by mid-2027. Around 50 lakh central government employees and about 65 lakh retired central government pensioners, including defence personnel and retirees, will benefit from the recommendations across 18 employee levels.

The 8th CPC conducted multiple state visits to meet employee representative groups, unions and stakeholders in April, May, June and has other meetings scheduled in July, with plans for more meetings across states and union territories (UTs) in due course.

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

When is 8th pay commission decision expected?

According to the usual timelines, the commission is expected to announce its final recommendations within 18 months. This means that February to May 2027 is the earliest we can get any official recommendations.

Notably, Dr Manjeet Singh Patel, National President of the All India NPS Employees Federation and National Mission for Old Pension Scheme Bharat told India Today that the new announcement could come in April next year, at the start of the new financial year.

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