8th Pay Commission: Pensioners have high hopes! Full list of 12 major demands, including minimum pension and DR..

The 8th Central Pay Commission (8th CPC) is currently in the consultation phase. To gather suggestions before submitting its recommendations next year, the commission is visiting various states and holding meetings with employee and pensioner representative groups, unions, and other stakeholders. It is chaired by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. Former IAS officer Pankaj Jain serves as the Member-Secretary, and Professor Pulak Ghosh (a Professor of Finance and member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council) is a member of the commission.

Who will benefit from the 8th CPC recommendations?

An official announcement regarding this commission—which is constituted every 10 years—is expected by May 2027. It is set to benefit approximately 10 million (1 crore) people, comprising around 5 million central government employees and about 6.5 million central government pensioners (including defense personnel and retirees).

Notably, the panel released its official 'Terms of Reference' (ToR) last year. The agenda includes, among other issues, the matter of revising pensions for pensioners and family pensioners retiring on or before December 31, 2025.

8th CPC: 12 key issues raised by pensioners

Pension revision: The National Council – Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), the Maharashtra Old Pension Organization, and the All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) have submitted detailed suggestions to the commission. They have demanded major changes, reforms, and parity in pension payments, as outlined below:

**Employee Group** | **Pension Reform**

NC-JCM | Structural alignment with revised pay
Maharashtra Old Pension Organization | Restoration of OPS + UPS reforms + DA linkage
AIDEF | Pension parity aligned with the revised salary structure

**Minimum Pension:** Other pensioner groups have also demanded that the minimum pension be raised to at least the 'Last Pay Drawn' (LPD) or 67% of the average income earned during the final 10 months of service.

Others have proposed increasing the pension based on age, suggesting that for pensioners aged 90 and above, the pension could be raised to 100% of the LPD.

**Pensioner's Age** | **Pension Level**

Demand for changes to the fitment factor used for pension calculation.
Review of the Dearness Relief (DR) structure and its inclusion in pension benefits.
Expanding the scope of family pension benefits.

Increasing the maximum gratuity limit and modifying pension commutation rules.

An option for retiring employees to choose between different pension systems—Old Pension Scheme (OPS), National Pension System (NPS), or Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)—based on their preferences and needs.

Several central government pensioner and employee organizations are demanding a reduction in the restoration period for commuted pension from 15 years to 10–12 years. They argue that the current rule is based on financial and actuarial assumptions that are decades old. Notably, the NC-JCM, AIDEF, Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO), and Bharat Pensioners Samaj and All Pensioners Association (BPSAPA) have demanded a restoration period of 11 years. Additionally, the Indian Railways Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) has proposed a 12-year period, while the All India New Pension Scheme Employees Federation (AINPSEF) has demanded 10 years.

These organizations have urged the commission to review Rule 10A of the Central Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981, and to revise the commutation table using updated actuarial, demographic, and financial data.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has formally forwarded requests seeking pension revisions for central government employees retiring before January 1, 2026. Pensioners are concerned that the Terms of Reference (ToR) do not explicitly state that pensions for employees retiring prior to January 1, 2026, will be revised.

Recently, several major unions, including the Retired Employees Welfare Association (REWA), have been demanding amendments to the ToR to include revisions to pensions and family pensions.

When can the final recommendations be expected?

It is important to note that discussions regarding the 8th CPC are still ongoing, and no final decision has been reached on these matters yet. Furthermore, once the 8th CPC recommendations are released, the central government must approve them before implementation. According to the timeline, the commission is likely to announce its recommendations within 18 months of its constitution (November 3, 2025). This implies that an official announcement regarding the decisions might only be made in February or April 2027; however, the final deadline for submitting the report is May 2027.

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