Delay in 8th Pay Commission could cost Level-7 staff about Rs 3 lakh in HRA, says report
If the 8th Pay Commission is implemented only in January 2028, a Level-7 central employee could lose an estimated Rs 2,96,350 in house rent allowance.
Central government employees are waiting for the 8th Pay Commission to take effect. So far, the commission is only holding meetings with representatives and stakeholders to hear employees' concerns. There is no word yet on when the final report will be ready.
According to some experts, the report may be submitted after May next year, after which the government is expected to decide. This raises the question of how a delay would affect employees.
According to one report, employees at Level-7 could lose an estimated Rs 3 lakh if implementation is delayed. Here is how that could happen.
There is talk that the 8th Pay Commission will come into force from January 1, 2026. If so, central employees would be entitled to a large amount of arrears. Some experts say the arrears could be calculated on the difference between the revised basic pay and the basic pay received earlier.
However, allowances such as house rent allowance (HRA) will not be paid as arrears under the 8th Pay Commission. This is where the potential loss arises. If implementation takes a long time and arrears of allowances such as house rent allowance for that period are not paid, employees could suffer a heavy loss.
Consider the calculation for a Level-7 employee. The current basic pay is Rs 44,900. If the 8th Pay Commission applies a fitment factor of 2.1, the basic pay would rise to about Rs 94,290.
At 24 per cent of the current basic pay of Rs 44,900, HRA works out to Rs 10,776. On the same basis, with the estimated fitment factor of 2.1, HRA would be about Rs 22,630. The monthly difference would be about Rs 11,854.
If the government implements the 8th Pay Commission by January 2028, employees may be paid arrears of their basic pay. But, going by the above calculation, they could lose out on HRA. A Level-7 employee could lose Rs 11,854 in HRA every month. If implementation happens in January 2028, a delay of 25 months, the employee could lose Rs 2,96,350.
