8th Pay Commission, Fitment factor and DA merger: The 8th Pay Commission is expected to revise the salaries of central government employees by merging the DA with the basic pay before applying the fitment factor, like the previous commissions.
8th Pay Commission: In January this year, the Narendra Modi government had announced the formation of a new pay panel in place of the Seventh Pay Commission. Let us tell you that the tenure of the Seventh Pay Commission is ending in December 2025. Now the names of the three members (including the chairman) of the 8th Pay Commission are to be announced by the government.
Since the announcement of the Eighth Pay Commission, many speculations are being made about the fitment factor. Let us tell you that the salary and pension of central government employees are being increased on the basis of the fitment factor. Apart from the fitment factor, the question in everyone’s mind is whether the basic salary will be merged with dearness allowance (DA) before implementing the fitment factor?
It is important to understand the concept of fitment factor and merger of basic pay with DA. This will help us understand how the salaries of central government employees are revised when the new pay commission is implemented.
What is fitment factor?
Fitment factor is a multiplier used to revise the basic pay during the implementation of the pay commission. It ensures uniform increase across all pay scales by incorporating inflation and past allowances, especially DA.
Role of DA in pay revision
Previous pay commissions – particularly the 5th, 6th and 7th – have effectively treated DA as merged with basic pay before the application of the fitment factor, even if it was not explicitly stated.
When the 7th Pay Commission came into effect in January 2016, central government employees were drawing 125% DA on their basic pay. The commission recommended a fitment factor of 2.57, which accounted for:
The fitment factor of 2.57x used in the 7th Central Pay Commission was not fixed arbitrarily. It was a structured calculation that effectively included 100% of basic pay, 125% DA, and an actual increase of about 14.22% on the combined amount of basic and DA.
Therefore, the revised pay was based on a consolidated figure of basic pay and total DA as of 2016.
Example of calculation:
If the basic salary of a government employee is Rs 10,000
125% DA = Rs 12,500 (10,000 x 1.25),
Total = Rs 22,500
14.22% increase = Rs 3,199.5
New pay = Rs 25,699.5 ~ approx. 25,700
Fitment factor = Rs 25,700/Rs 10,000 = 2.57
This means the revised pay was not just based on the old basic but on the Basic + DA merged figure with the marginal hike added.
5th Pay Commission: 1996
DA was around 74%.
The government merged the DA into the basic pay and applied a fitment factor of 1.86.
This factor essentially represents 74% DA merged and 28-30% actual increase.
6th Pay Commission: 2006
DA had reached around 115 per cent.
Though DA was not explicitly merged, the fitment gain of 1.86x indicated that it was incorporated in the revised pay structure through pay bands and grade pay.
Again, the 1.86 multiple showed Basic + DA + Marginal Increase.
DA and Fitment Factor under Previous Pay Commissions
| Pay Commission | DA at the time of merger | Fitment Factor |
| Fifth Pay Commission | 74 percent | 1.86 |
| Sixth Pay Commission | 115 percent | 1.86 (with grade pay) |
| 7th Pay Commission | 125 percent | 2.57 |
How Central Government Employees Salaries may be Revised under 8th Pay Commission
The 8th Pay Commission is likely to follow a similar approach as seen under the previous commissions.
Recent trends show that the fitment factor is not applied to the basic salary alone. Instead, the DA is first merged or incorporated into the revised base salary, and then the hike is implemented. This is an important point as employees have been pushing for a higher fitment factor ahead of any potential 8th Pay Commission implementation.
