Fitment factors recommended by pay commissions over the years

Discussions on the 8th Central Pay Commission have begun. The Unions have already demanded the constitution of the 8th Central Pay Commission. Read: Unions start demanding constitution of 8th Central Pay Commission

Any update on the 8th pay commission will be keenly followed by central government employees news. And it is definite that the ruling government will take this opportunity to create goodwill among the central government employees. It is expected that the eighth Central Pay Commission is likely to be announced during the second half of 2023.

The main query that arises is how much the salary hike will be. More than any other benefits the total monetary benefits will be the expectation. At this moment nothing can be predicted about the hike. But let us see how many hikes or what is the fitment factor that various pay commissions have given over the years.

Fitment Factor 
The fitment factor is generally the most important recommendation in Pay Commission Report. It is basically the multiplication factor applied to the basic pay to derive the hiked basic pay. The fitment factor alone will not decide the total change in the total pay. During the revision, most likely the dearness allowance (DA) will be merged with the basic to derive the fitment factor and the new DA will be set to 0. The other allowance may also be changed. For example, the seventh pay commission had reduced the rate of House Rent Allowance.

The following are the fitment factors recommended by pay commissions over the years

4th Pay Commission

• Pay Hike in Percentage: 27.6%
• Minimum Basic Salary: Rs.750

5th Pay Commission

1. Pay Hike in Percentage: 31%
2. Minimum Basic Salary: Rs.2550

6th Pay Commission

• Fitment Factor: 1.86
• Pay Hike in Percentage: 54%
• Minimum Basic Salary: Rs.7000

7th Pay Commission

• Fitment Factor: 2.57
• Pay Hike in Percentage: 14.29%
• Minimum Basic Salary: Rs.18000