8th Pay Commission News: Why The 7th CPC’s Slow Growth May Favour The DA Hike In 8th CPC

Key Highlights

• Under the 7th CPC, DA currently stands at 58 per cent of basic pay.
• With the next revision scheduled for March, it is expected to inch up to around 60 per cent. Biannual Revisions And The Pandemic PauseDA and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners are updated twice a year, in March and October, with retrospective effect from January and July.
• However, the growth rate of DA under the 7th CPC was impacted significantly by an 18-month freeze during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The government paused revisions to DA and DR to manage the financial strain on the exchequer amid the health crisis. The 8th Pay Commission, established in November 2025, is not expected to table its report before mid-2027.
• Until then, DA will likely be revised at least three more times, reaching an estimated cumulative 70 per cent before the rollout of the new commission, suggest the reports. Lower DA Could Mean Higher Effective Wage HikeA key factor in calculating real salary increases is that DA resets to zero whenever a new pay panel is implemented.