Sep 17, 2026, 01:10:16 PM IST

ET Online

Employee and pensioner bodies have proposed that the minimum pension at any level should not be lower than 50% of the minimum basic pay applicable to that level, regardless of when the employee retired. For example, under the 7th CPC, the minimum basic pay for a Level 1 employee is Rs 18,000. Under this proposal, the minimum pension for a Level 1 employee would therefore be Rs 9,000.

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Under the 7th Central Pay Commission, pension under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) is ordinarily calculated at 50% of the last basic pay or the average basic pay of the last 10 months, whichever is higher. Here, for the estimates, pension is considered at 50% of the last basic pay drawn.

ET Online

Under the 7th CPC, the basic pension under the 6th Pay Commission was multiplied by a 2.57 fitment factor to arrive at the 7th CPC pension. For the 8th CPC estimates, the government is expected to take the same approach, multiplying the 7th CPC pension by the assumed fitment factor.
Since the actual fitment factor will be known only after the government notifies the 8th Pay Commission recommendations, this calculation considers 2.15, 2.28 and 2.57 as possible scenarios.

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If a 2.15 fitment factor is applied to the 7th CPC pension, the estimated pension for Level 4-7 employees would be calculated accordingly.

ET Online

ET Online

If the 2.57 fitment factor used under the 7th CPC is applied to the 7th CPC pension for the 8th CPC, the estimated pension for Level 4-7 employees can be calculated accordingly.

ET Online