Will central government employees get 8th Pay Commission (8th CPC) arrears for allowances such as house rent allowance, dearness allowance (DA), transport allowance (TPTA), or they will get it only on their salary? With the 8th Pay Commission consulting with various stake holders to prepare its report of recommendations, many central government employees are waiting for the report implementation, seeking answers which of their payouts will rise- salary or other allowances too. Once the 8th CPC report is approved by the central cabinet and the government notifies its rules, employees will see their payouts increase. They are expected to get arrears from January 1, 2026, since the 7th CPC tenure ended in December 2025. With the 8th Pay Commission deadline of report submission ending in May 2027 and the notification of rules may take another 3-6 months, central government employees may get 20-24 months of arrears. But which arrears will thy get? Will central government employees get arrears for HRA, TA, etc? Financial expert Ramachandran Krishnamoorthy told ET Wealth that based on past pay commission practises- • Dearness allowance (DA) arrears are paid as they are recalculated month-wise on the revised basic pay. • HRA arrears are usually not paid as HRA is revised prospectively. • Transport allowance arrears are generally not paid, since it is a fixed amount. What he meant to say is that DA is calculated on the basis of the basic salary of an employee. Since the basic salary of an employee increases in a new pay commission, the amount of DA also increases automatically. As far HRA is concerned, it’s also based on the basic salary of an employee. The current HRA rates are 10% (Z-category cities), 20% (Y-category cities) and 30% (X-category cities) of the basic pay. These rates were 8%, 16% and 24% and were increased after DA reached at 50%. The current DA rate is 60%. Likewise, transport allowance is also based on the basic salary of an employee and the city of transport. For the 7th Pay Commission, the TPTA range for central government employees is Rs 1,350-Rs 7,200. TPTA also increased by 25% when DA reached at 50%. TPTA rates are also revised by a pay commission. When HRA and TPTA rates are revised in a new pay commission, central employees get them as per new rates, but they don’t get arrears for these allowances as per the past practises. “Employees should not expect arrears on fixed or policy-driven allowances unless explicitly notified,” says Krishnamoorthy. For how many months, can central government employees can get arrears? In November 2025, the 8th Pay Commission was given 18 months of time to submit its report. It means it has time till May 2027 to submit the report unless it asks for an extension of deadline from Centre. Once the report is ready, a group of ministers will study it and provide its inputs. After that, the cabinet will approve the final draft of the 8th Pay Commission report. If this process takes another 3-6 months, the implemented date may be in the second half of the year 2027. It means central government employees may get arrears for 20-24 months. How arrears for central government employees can be calculated? Arrears can be calculated as: Monthly pay difference (between 8th and 7th CPC basic pays)× number of delayed months The revised pay is derived by applying the approved fitment factor to the existing 7th CPC basic pay. A fitment factor is a multiplier of the salary and pension. A 2.0 fitment factor means the basic salary of an employee will be doubled in a new pay commission. Examples of arrears for Level 6 employee at 2.0, 2.15 and 2.28 and 2.57 fitment factors Level 6 employee’s minimum basic salary in the 7th Pay Commission is Rs 35,400 Level 6 employee’s estimated revised salary as per 2, 2.15, 2.28 and 2.57 fitment factors Current basic pay (L6) ₹ 35,400 Revised pay at 2.0 fitment factor ₹ 70,800 Revised pay at 2.15 fitment factor ₹ 76,110 Revised pay at 2.28 fitment factor ₹ 80,712 Revised pay at 2.57 fitment factor ₹ 90,978 Monthly increase for Level 6 employee at 2.0, 2.15, 2.28 and 2.57 fitment factors Fitment factors Monthly increase for L6 employee with Rs 35,400 basic pay 2 ₹ 35,400 2.15 ₹ 40,710 2.28 ₹ 45,312 2.57 ₹ 55,578 Level 6 employee’s estimated arrears as per 2, 2.15, 2.28 and 2.57 fitment factors (for 20 months) Fitment factor Arrear estimates for L6 employee with Rs 35,600 current basic pay 2 ₹ 7,08,000 2.15 ₹ 8,14,200 2.28 ₹ 9,06,240 2.57 ₹ 11,11,560 However, the real magnitude of the arrear will be known when the 8th Pay Commission decides on the fitment factor and the government notify the rules of the new pay commission.