8th CPC: Level 1 salary at Rs 69K? Check estimates

The 8th Pay Commission’s next consultation meetings with stakeholders are set to begin in Mumbai on October 22-23, 2026. The meeting is in a series of several similar discussions that are taking place across India. Some of the common discussions points in the meetings are salary, pension and allowance revisions and the fitment factor.

As far as the fitment factor is concerned, many employee and pensioner associations have recommended much higher fitment factors compared to the 2.57 multiplier taken by the 7th Pay Commission. In this write-up, we will discuss fitment factors proposed by different employee and pensioner organisations, and how these multipliers may change salaries of Level 1-5 employees in the 8th Pay Commission.

Proposed fitment factors to 8th Pay Commission

ET Online

In the recommended fitment factors, you can see that the most common number is 3.833. The multiplier has been proposed by National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), All India Defence Employees' Federation (AIDEF) and the Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO) among others.

The Bharat Pensioners Samaj (BPS), a prominent central government pensioners’ body with 10 lakh members, has also recommended a 3.833 fitment factor.

Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS) and All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), which are prominent trade unions in India, have recommended fitment factors of 4 and 3, respectively.

The Indian Railways' Technical Supervisors' Association (IRTSA) has recommended as many as five fitment factors (2.92, 3.50, 3.80, 4.09, 4.38). These fitment factors are for different levels of employees.

As far as the 7th Pay Commission is concerned, there are 18 levels of employees in terms of basic salaries with Rs 18,000 as the minimum and Rs 2,50,000 as the maximum.

Can 8th Pay Commission deliver a 3.833 fitment factor?

Fitment factor proposals by employees’ and pensioners’ bodies and acceptance by the pay commission are different things.

Employees’ and pensioners’ units base their fitment factor recommendations on the Dr Wallace Ruddell Aykroyd formula, coined in 1937 and accepted by the 15th Indian Labour Conference in 1957. The formula advocates for establishing a framework for need-based minimum wages.

Pay Commissions also take the formula into account while determining the fitment factor. But the formula is just one factor as the government sets the fitment factor based on its budgets for salaries and allowances. The standard practice to calculate the revised pay in a new pay commission is to merge the existing basic pay with dearness allowance (DA) and apply some growth factor over it.

In the 7th Pay Commission, the NC-JCM proposed a 3.71 fitment factor, but the government notified a 2.57 multiplier.

For the 8th Pay Commission, experts predict a fitment factor between 2 and 2.50. It will be known when the government notifies the 8th Pay Commission, which may take some time.

Estimated Level 1-5 revised salaries at 5 proposed fitment factors

In the write-up, we will calculate estimated revised salary for Level 1-5 employees at proposed fitment factors of 2.62, 2.92, 3, 3.50, 3.833 and 4.0.

Level 1-5 salaries under the per 7th Pay Commission

Level 1-5 salary estimates at 2.62 fitment factor

Level 1-5 salary estimates at 3 fitment factor

Level 1-5 salary estimates at 3.50 fitment factor

Level 1-5 salary estimates at 3.833 fitment factor

Level 1-5 salary estimates at 4.0 fitment factor