The Seventh Pay commission

The Pay Commission is an administrative system governed by the Government of India. The purpose of this system is to determine and suggest required changes to the salary of Government employees. All Central Government employees (including industrial and non-industrial) All personnel of the Union Territories. The Pay Commission is, however, not a constitutional body.

From time to time, by the end of every decade, the Government revises the pay and perks of its servants. It is generally done for the officers to cope with the growing economic scenario, based on the living standards and the income earned by its servants. The services include the pure government services, and the other government-owned public sector undertakings have a different package. Still, there has always been a difference while fixing the salaries and perks of Military personnel and civil personnel.

The services departments staffed by officers and clerical categories of employees get the advantage of pay revision recommended by the Pay commissions duly appointed by the Government.

The Seventh Pay Commission got appointed with Sh A.K. Mathur as the committee head.

The seventh pay commission was appointed as there were murmurs around the military sector when they were not given equanimity with their civil employees while revising the pay and perks. The Military or the defence department is indeed of prime importance as they are the guardians of the Nation. They are given various fringe benefits, which the other civil servants do not get as they rightly deserve such treatment.

However, regarding pay scales, in comparison with the civil servants were not at par at various levels. The government-appointed the Seventh pay commission to evaluate and recommend changes so that the Military personnel could get their rightful salary package and their promotional avenues cadre wise. The civil servants enjoyed a time scale promotion, which was not there in the Military cadres. Though the Seventh Pay Commission report was to be implemented in 2016, it was delayed for various reasons.

Thus the 7th pay commission establishes a new pay matrix and pays scale that ensures pioneer and government employees get a 2.5% hike on their current income. The salary of a central government employee gets doubled. The “Fitment factor” of the 7th pay commission stands at a 3% annual increment for all employees. Henceforth the pay matrix came into action instead of the earlier grade pay standard. The apex scale employees receive an increased salary amount of Rs. 2.25 lakh per month, and for the office cabinets, the maximum wage is Rs.2.5 lakh. For the defence section, a total salary of Rs. 2,50,000 and a minimum payable wage of Rs. 21,700 has been set according to the 7th pay commission. The Indian Government handles the entire cost of this whole exercise.

The Central Government implemented the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations in July 2018, and nearly 5 million central government employees benefitted. They revised trip allowance, accident allowance, outstation posting compensation, Difficult areas compensation, etc. The central government also appointed the LAVASA committee to examine the current budget and consider including or excluding specific allowances.

The Seventh Pay Commission also recommended highly simplified pension calculations based on the current revisions. The importance of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendation is that it follows a MATRIX SYSTEM of revision compared to the earlier Grade system.

What does grade pay mean?

Apart from basic pay, government employees also receive grade pay, which is calculated depending on the category or class of the employee. The total of basic pay and grade pay is used in assessing dearness and other allowances. Any increase or decrease of basic salary can affect an employee’s CTC.

It suggested a 23.55% hike in pay and allowances in all sectors.

What is the Matrix system of Pay scales?

The 7th Pay Commission Pay Matrix is a simple and perspicuous table representing all the pay levels in a single comprehensive chart. Many demands of the government employees who come under the purview of the Seventh Pay Commission were incorporated in the 7th CPC pay matrix. For example, there is standard pay for junior-level employees, transparent pay structure and common treatment of similar cadres.

The 7th pay matrix enables employees to directly view their pay level and also chart the likely path of pay progression. Additionally, the procedures relating to the calculation of pension have also been simplified.

There were five Pay Bands with different scales for all the cadres in the government service. They are as follows:

Table sourced from IIFL securities

1. Level 1 to 5 (Grade Pay 1800 TO 2800)

PB-1 (5200-20200)

GP	1800	1900	2000	2400	2800
Level	1	2	3	4	5
1	18000	19900	21700	25500	29200
2	18500	20500	22400	26300	30100
3	19100	21100	23100	27100	31000
4	19700	21700	23800	27900	31900
5	20300	22400	24500	28700	32900
6	20900	23100	25200	29600	33900
7	21500	23800	26000	30500	34900
8	22100	24500	26800	31400	35900
9	22800	25200	27600	32300	37000
10	23500	26000	28400	33300	38100
11	24200	26800	29300	34300	39200
12	24900	27600	30200	35300	40400
13	25600	28400	31100	36400	41600
14	26400	29300	32000	37500	42800
15	27200	30200	33000	38600	44100
16	28000	31100	34000	39800	45400
17	28800	32000	35000	41000	46800
18	29700	33000	36100	42200	48200
19	30600	34000	37200	43500	49600
20	31500	35000	38300	44800	51100
21	32400	36100	39400	46100	52600
22	33400	37200	40600	47500	54200
23	34400	38300	41800	48900	55800
24	35400	39400	43100	50400	57500
25	36500	40600	44400	51900	59200
26	37600	41800	45700	53500	61000
27	38700	43100	47100	55100	62800
28	39900	44400	48500	56800	64700
29	41100	45700	50000	58500	66600
30	42300	47100	51500	60300	68600
31	43600	48500	53000	62100	70700
32	44900	50000	54600	64000	72800
33	46200	51500	56200	65900	75000
34	47600	53000	57900	67900	77300
35	49000	54600	59600	69900	79600
36	50500	56200	61400	72000	82000
37	52000	57900	63200	74200	84500
38	53600	59600	65100	76400	87000
39	55200	61400	67100	78700	89600
40	56900	63200	69100	81100	92300

2. Level 6 to 9 (GP 4200 TO 5400)

PB-2 (9300-34800)

GP	4200	4600	4800	5400
Level	6	7	8	9
1	35400	44900	47600	53100
2	36500	46200	49000	54700
3	37600	47600	50500	56300
4	38700	49000	52000	58000
5	39900	50500	53600	59700
6	41100	52000	55200	61500
7	42300	53600	56900	63300
8	43600	55200	58600	65200
9	44900	56900	60400	67200
10	46200	58600	62200	69200
11	47600	60400	64100	71300
12	49000	62200	66000	73400
13	50500	64100	68000	75600
14	52000	66000	70000	77900
15	53600	68000	72100	80200
16	55200	70000	74300	82600
17	56900	72100	76500	85100
18	58600	74300	78800	87700
19	60400	76500	81200	90300
20	62200	78800	83600	93000
21	64100	81200	86100	95800
22	66000	83600	88700	98700
23	68000	86100	91400	101700
24	70000	88700	94100	104800
25	72100	91400	96900	107900
26	74300	94100	99800	111100
27	76500	96900	102800	114400
28	78800	99800	105900	117800
29	81200	102800	109100	121300
30	83600	105900	112400	124900
31	86100	109100	115800	128600
32	88700	112400	119300	132500
33	91400	115800	122900	136500
34	94100	119300	126600	140600
35	96900	122900	130400	144800
36	99800	126600	134300	149100
37	102800	130400	138300	153600
38	105900	134300	142400	158200
39	109100	138300	146700	162900
40	112400	142400	151100	151100

3. Level 10 to 12 (GP 5400 to 7600)

PB-3 (15600-39100)

GP	5400	6600	7600
Level	10	11	12
1	56100	67700	78800
2	57800	69700	81200
3	59500	71800	83600
4	61300	74000	86100
5	63100	76200	88700
6	65000	78500	91400
7	67000	80900	94100
8	69000	83300	96900
9	71100	85800	99800
10	73200	88400	102800
11	75400	91100	105900
12	77700	93800	109100
13	80000	96600	112400
14	82400	99500	115800
15	84900	102500	119300
16	87400	105600	122900
17	90000	108800	126600
18	92700	112100	130400
19	95500	115500	134300
20	98400	119000	138300
21	101400	122600	142400
22	104400	126300	146700
23	107500	130100	151100
24	110700	134000	155600
25	114000	138000	160300
26	117400	142100	165100
27	120900	146400	170100
28	124500	150800	175200
29	128200	155300	180500
30	132000	160000	185900
31	136000	164800	191500
32	140100	169700	197200
33	144300	174800	203100
34	148600	180000	209200
35	153100	185400	–
36	157700	191000	–
37	162400	196700	–
38	167300	202600	–
39	172300	208700	–
40	177500	–	–

4. Level 13 to 14 (GP 8700 TO 10000)

GP	8700	8900	10000
Level	13	13A	14
1	123100	131100	144200
2	126800	135000	148500
3	130600	139100	153000
4	134500	143300	157600
5	138500	147600	162300
6	142700	152000	167200
7	147000	156600	172200
8	151400	161300	177400
9	155900	166100	182700
10	160600	171100	188200
11	165400	176200	193800
12	170400	181500	199600
13	175500	186900	205600
14	180800	192500	211800
15	186200	198300	218200
16	191800	204200
17	197600	210300
18	203500	216600
19	209600
20	215900

5. Level 15 to 18 (No Grade Pay – HAG Scales)

PB	67000-79000	75500-80000	80000	90000
Level	15	16	17	18
1	182200	205400	225000	250000
2	187700	211600
3	193300	217900
4	199100	224400
5	205100
6	211300
7	217600
8	224100

How to calculate CPC under the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations:

The method of conversion of the pay scale from 6th CPC to 7th CPC is given below in detail as per the recommendation of the 7th pay commission.

Step 1: Check your basic pay (including grade pay) as on 31.12.2015

Step 2: Multiplication by a Fitment factor of 2.57

Step 3: Rounded off to the nearest rupee

Step 4: Go to Matrix Pay Table and select the Level corresponding to Grade Pay.Step 5: Select equal or next higher Pay in the corresponding Matrix Level

Link to download calculator: 7th CPC Pay Calculator

New scales for HRA under the Seventh Pay commission

New Rates of HRA from July 2021

X Class Cities: 27 per cent of Basic Pay

Y Class Cities: 18 per cent of Basic Pay

Z Class Cities: 9 per cent of Basic Pay

The Hike in Dearness Allowance as per the revised pattern under Seventh Pay commission

The DA was increased from 17% to 28%, with effect from July 2021.

Uttar Pradesh Pensioners and Seventh Pay commission

As many as five lakh beneficiaries will be given pensions per the Seventh Pay Commission in Uttar Pradesh, the state government announced on Monday.

Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) S Radha Chauhan said most pensioners in the category would be from the corporate sector, where the Seventh Pay Commission has not been implemented.

The government approved the revision of the provisional pension of the mentioned category of pensioners on March 6, 2017, as per the mandate of February 12, 2018.

As per the revised mandate, the higher the amount, the more pension will be payable.

Being a government servant has always been a coveted service, and the younger generation is attracted to securing government employment solely for its security and salary. The government, too, is keen on protecting its employees and keeping them in ship shape with timely revision in pay and perks and making service an enjoyable occupation.