8th Pay Commission: Why likely increase of fitment factor to 2.86 may NOT result in exorbitant salary hike for govt staff

8th Pay Commission: The Centre will be formally setting up the 8th Pay Commission soon. (Image: AI)

8th Pay Commission: As the countdown begins for the Centre to formally set up the 8th Pay Commission, there is a growing concern and curiosity regarding the decision on fitment factor. Simply put, fitment factor is the criteria based on which the commission decides the salary hike for the central government employees.

While there has been no official announcement, latest buzz suggests that the fitment factor for the 8th Pay Commission will increase somewhere between 1.92 and 2.86. Will an increase in the fitment factor result in massive salary hike for the government employees? Well, the answer is no. According to a report by The Financial Express, the pay commission applies fitment factor on the basic pay of the employee and not on the gross salary.

The FE report also added that another reason why the effect of fitment factor doesn’t reflect on the gross salary is because of the several other components in the salary. From merging the dearness allowance in the basic pay to amending the other allowances from the pay structure, the pay commission considers score of details which means application of fitment factor on only the basic pay of an employee.