8th Pay Commission: Bumper increase in salary! When will the money come in 2026, how much extra will I get?

The year 2026 is going to be very special for lakhs of central government employees and pensioners. The 7th Pay Commission is ending on 31st December 2025 and now there is discussion everywhere regarding the 8th Pay Commission. There is only one question in the mind of every employee – how much will the salary increase now and when will the increased money come into the account?

What did the government do on the 8th Pay Commission?

The government has started preparations for the 8th Pay Commission. The necessary conditions i.e. terms of reference for this were approved in October 2025. Now the Commission has been given about 18 months time to prepare new recommendations for salary, allowances and pension. This means we will have to wait a little longer for the report to arrive.

Applicable from January 1, 2026, but money not immediately!

The new pay commission will be implemented on paper from January 1, 2026, but it does not mean that the increased salary will start coming into the account from the same day. Past experiences show that there is a gap of a few months between government approval and actual payment.

There have been delays before too

Last time the 7th Pay Commission was considered to be implemented from January 2016, but the government approved it in June. After this, the employees also received the arrears after a few months. Similarly, one may have to wait for the salary increase in the 8th Pay Commission also. Experts believe that actual payments may start anytime in the financial year 2026-27.

How much salary increase is expected?

No official data has come from the government yet, but estimates are being made. In the 6th Pay Commission, there was an average increase of 40 percent, while in the 7th it was between 23 to 25 percent. Salary may increase by 20 to 35 percent in the 8th Pay Commission. The special thing is that lower level and newly joined employees are expected to benefit the most.

What will be the fitment factor?

Fitment factor is the number by which the new basic salary is decided. In the 7th Pay Commission it was 2.57. There is talk of it being between 2.4 to 3.0 in the 8th. If the fitment factor is higher then there will be a huge increase in the basic salary.

On what factors does the decision depend?

The final salary hike will depend on many things—inflation situation, government coffers, tax collection and upcoming political decisions. Overall, the government is trying to give a balanced and beneficial increase from the 8th Pay Commission. Employees just have to have a little patience!