8th Pay Commission: Calculation of DA will change! If the government changes the base year, how will the money get? Know the updates

8th Pay Commission: The eagerness of central employees is going to end. The Eighth Pay Commission Committee will be constituted in April. After this, the Commission will start working on its recommendations. The central government approved the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission in January. The seventh pay commission’s deadline will end on 31 December 2025. At the same time, the new pay commission is going to be implemented from 1 January 2026. However, after the formation of the panel, it may take about 15–18 months to arrive its final report. According to sources, the panel may submit its recommendations by April-May 2026. However, the final report will take some time to arrive. It is expected to be implemented by 2027. However, there is also a discussion that recommendations can come anytime, but the 8th Pay Commission will be applicable from January 1, 2026. Meanwhile, another debate has gained momentum whether the dearness allowance will be merged into the original salary when the new pay commission comes or the situation will remain the same. At the same time, another discussion is that the government will change the calculation of dearness allowance (DA) in the new Pay Commission. For this, the base year of dearness allowance (DA Base Year) can be changed. Let us understand what the possibilities are.

There will be a change in the base year.
DA is calculated based on AICPI-IW data. The same situation was in the last Finance Commission. It is expected that this calculation will continue in future also. But according to sources, after the new Pay Commission is implemented, the government may change the base year for DA calculation. Currently, the base year 2016 for AICPI-IW, it was changed in the year 2016 with the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission. Experts also believe that there may be a change in the base year after the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission. The reasoning behind this is that inflation is increasing and the dearness allowance given with the new base year should also be changed to deal with rising inflation. It is likely that the basis of dearness allowance may be 2026.

What will be the change in calculation?
DA is given to central government employees to give relief from inflation. But inflation has increased rapidly in the last decade. But due to the base year, the basis of calculation of dearness allowance is the same. Its rate changes every six months. It is possible that the government will depend on AICPI-IW. But only changing the base year can change the calculation. In such a situation, dearness allowance will become zero and dearness allowance will be calculated in a new way.

Will the old dearness allowance be included?
If the 8th Pay Commission is implemented by 1 January 2026, then in view of the current situation, dearness allowance will be up to 61 percent. These employees should be paid their salary. However, if the base year changes, the old DA can be mixed. However, the government has not officially said this yet. All this will be decided only after the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission.

When did the dearness allowance become zero?
The recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission were implemented from 1 January 2016. At that time, dearness allowance for central government employees was 125%. The Seventh Pay Commission merged this 125% dearness allowance to the original salary and included it in the new salary structure. This means that dearness allowance in the new salary matrix was reduced to zero and dearness allowance was calculated on the basis of new basic salary.

A new original pay structure was introduced during the Sixth Pay Commission. The salary structure included salary band and grade salary. In the Seventh Pay Commission, both of them were made to consolidate the basic salary. This new basic salary included the old basic salary and 125 percent dearness allowance, which increased the total salary of the employee.

What changed in salary matrix?
The Seventh Pay Commission introduced a new salary matrix, in which salary was fixed on various levels and sales basis. This matrix provided clear guidance for increment and promotion at every level. It remains to be seen whether the government changes the entire calculation of DA to change the old base year. At the same time, what are the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission? It will be clear only after the recommendations come, what will happen and how much will happen. Whether it is a salary increase or a calculation of dearness allowance.