Whenever there is talk of 8th Pay Commission, the most common term that comes to mind is “fitment factor”. Government employees often assume that if the fitment factor is 2.5 or 2.8, their salary will increase by 150% or more. But, the reality is completely different from this. The actual increase is not that much, because the merger of DA (Dearness Allowance) and DA plays an important role in it.
What is fitment factor?
First, let’s understand what fitment factor is. This is a multiplier used to decide the new basic salary. Until the new Pay Commission is implemented, employees are getting Dearness Allowance (DA), which increases every six months. Sometimes, DA goes up to 100% or more by the time the new commission is implemented. In such cases, the accumulated DA is first added to the existing basic salary, and then the fitment factor is applied. This means that the actual increase is decided only after adjusting the amount already received.
The clearest example of this was seen during the 7th Pay Commission. At that time, the fitment factor was set at 2.57, and the DA was approximately 125%. Suppose the basic salary of an employee was ₹ 7,000. After adding 125% DA, the total salary became ₹ 15,750. When the new basic salary was fixed at ₹2.57, it became ₹18,000. This means the actual increase was only ₹2,250, which was about 14.3%. The reported increase of 157% was actually only 14%.
If we look at the previous Pay Commission records, the actual increase has been between 14% to 31%. While there was a large increase of 54% in the sixth pay commission, the subsequent increase in the seventh pay commission was again limited. This is why expecting 150% from the eighth pay commission is considered unrealistic.
What are the rules?
It should be noted that the fitment factor is applicable only on basic pay. The final in-hand salary also includes HRA, transport allowance and other allowances, which vary depending on the city and position. Therefore, the impact on total salary may vary from person to person. Based on past trends, an actual increase of between 15% and 30% is considered more realistic. However, if the government approves a higher fitment factor like 2.86, the impact could be significant. Although the official announcement is awaited, it is certain that estimating the salary hike only on the basis of fitment factor does not accurately reflect the total salary increase.
