7^TH PAY COMMISSION REPORT SUBMITTED TO GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ON 19.11.2015

Transport Allowance (TPTA) is granted to cover the expenditure involved in commuting between place of residence and place of duty.

7th CPC Recommends  Transport Allowance for three Category of Employees for Two Types of Places

7th Pay commission Transport Allowance for Higher TPTA Cities (19 Cities Covered)

          Incidentally, only 13 cities fall under this categorization: six in A1, viz., Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and seven in A, viz., Ahmedabad, Surat, Nagpur, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow and Kanpur. Recently, six more cities, viz., Patna, Kochi, Kozhikode, Indore, Coimbatore and Ghaziabad have been added to A1/A categories, making it nineteen in all.

Grade Pay 1800 to 1900 – Rs 1350+DA Grade Pay 2000 to 4800 – Rs 3600+DA Grade Pay 5400 and above – Rs. 7200+DA

7th Pay commission Transport Allowance for other Cities

Grade Pay 1800 to 1900 – Rs 900+DA Grade Pay 2000 to 4800 – Rs 1800+DA Grade Pay 5400 and above – Rs. 3600+DA

The existing rates are as under

The Commission notes that TPTA is fully DA-indexed.

The first issue to be considered is whether the rate of Transport Allowance should be the same for all places. There are arguments both for and against this view.

Proponents of the idea argue that petrol prices are almost same everywhere. Moreover, public transport system is better developed in many of the A1/A Class cities, thereby reducing the cost of commuting significantly. The argument, therefore, is that A1/A category places do not need to have a higher rate.

Opponents point out that the categorization of A1/A has been abolished for other purposes (like HRA, CCA) but retained for Transport Allowance. Incidentally, only 13 cities fall under this categorization: six in A1, viz., Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and seven in A, viz., Ahmedabad, Surat, Nagpur, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow and Kanpur. Recently, six more cities, viz., Patna, Kochi, Kozhikode, Indore, Coimbatore and Ghaziabad have been added to A1/A categories, making it nineteen in all. (Incidentally, vide a recent notification No. 21(2)/2015-E.II(B) dated 06.08.2015, the use of term “A1/A” has been dropped for these nineteen cities. Hence, the Commission will refer to these nineteen cities as “Higher TPTA cities.”). In all these places the commuting distances are far more than in other cities. Moreover, the public transport system is not as developed as it should be in all these places. Therefore, it is argued, the distinction should remain.

After considering both the viewpoints, the Commission is of the view that by and large the commuting distances and associated difficulties involved in Higher TPTA cities are much more compared to other places. Hence, the argument that the distinction should stay is a valid one.

The second issue is whether Transport Allowance should be the same for all personnel posted at the same place. Here the Commission feels that a question of status of employee is involved and hence, complete parity is not possible.

Regarding the optimal rate of Transport Allowance, the Commission notes that the allowance is already fully DA indexed. Therefore, since DA has already reached 119 percent and is likely to rise further before the implementation of our report, the following rates of Transport Allowance are recommended:

Officers in Pay Level 14 and higher, who are entitled to the use of official car, will ave the option to avail themselves of the existing facility or to draw the TPTA at the rate of ₹15,750+DA pm. Differently abled employees will continue to be paid at double rate, subject to a minimum of ₹2,250 plus DA

Fitment Formula is 2.57

This fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees

Actual hike in the basic pay is 14.29 %

Fitment

5.1.27 The starting point for the first level of the matrix has been set at ₹18,000. This corresponds to the starting pay of ₹7,000, which is the beginning of PB-1 viz., ₹5,200 + GP 1800, which prevailed on 01.01.2006, the date of implementation of the VI CPC recommendations. Hence the starting point now proposed is 2.57 times of what was prevailing on 01.01.2006. This fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees. It includes a factor of 2.25 on account of DA neutralisation, assuming that the rate of Dearness Allowance would be 125 percent at the time of implementation of the new pay. Accordingly, the actual raise/fitment being recommended is 14.29 percent.

Pay Fixation in the New Pay Structure

5.1.28.  The fitment of each employee in the new pay matrix is proposed to be done by multiplying his/her basic pay on the date of implementation by a factor of 2.57. The figure so arrived at is to be located in the new pay matrix, in the level that corresponds to the employee’s grade pay on the date of implementation, except in cases where the Commission has recommended a change in the existing grade pay. If the identical figure is not available in the given level, the next higher figure closest to it would be the new pay of the concerned employee. A couple of examples are detailed below to make the process amply clear.

5.1.29 The pay in the new pay matrix is to be fixed in the following manner: Step 1: Identify Basic Pay (Pay in the pay band plus Grade Pay) drawn by an employee as on the date of implementation. This figure is ‘A’. Step 2: Multiply ‘A’ with 2.57, round-off to the nearest rupee, and obtain result ‘B’. Step 3: The figure so arrived at, i.e., ‘B’ or the next higher figure closest to it in the Level assigned to his/her grade pay, will be the new pay in the new pay matrix. In case the value of ‘B’ is less than the starting pay of the Level, then the pay will be equal to the starting pay of that level.

Example I

i. For example an employee H is presently drawing Basic Pay of ₹55,040 (Pay in the Pay Band ₹46340 + Grade Pay ₹8700 = ₹55040). After multiplying ₹55,040 with 2.57, a figure of ₹1,41,452.80 is arrived at. This is rounded off to ₹1,41,453.

ii. The level corresponding to GP 8700 is level 13, as may be seen from Table 4, which gives the full correspondence between existing Grade Pay and the new Levels being proposed.

iii. In the column for level 13, the figure closest to ₹1,41,453 is ₹1,41,600.

iv. Hence the pay of employee H will be fixed at ₹1,41,600 in level 13 in the new pay matrix as shown below

Example II i. Take the case of an employee T in GP 4200, drawing pay of ₹20,000 in PB-2. The Basic Pay is ₹24,200 (20,000+4200). If there was to be no change in T’s level the pay fixation would have been as explained in Example I above. After multiplying by 2.57, the amount fetched viz., ₹62,194 would have been located in Level 6 and T’s pay would have been fixed in Level 6 at ₹62,200.

ii. However, assuming that the Commission has recommended that the post occupied by T should be placed one level higher in GP 4600. T’s basic pay would then be ₹24,600 (20000 + 4600). Multiplying this by 2.57 would fetch ₹63,222.

iii. This value would have to be located in the matrix in Level 7 (the upgraded level of T).

iv. In the column for Level 7 ₹63,222 lies between 62200 and 64100. Accordingly, the pay of T will be fixed in Level 7 at ₹64,100.

The Commission has designed the new pay matrix keeping in view the vast opportunities that have opened up outside government over the last three decades, generating greater competition for human resources and the need to attract and retain the best available talent in government services. The nomenclature being used in the new pay matrix assigns levels in place of erstwhile grade pay and Table 3 below brings out the new dispensation for various grades pay pertaining to Civil, Defence and MNS.

5.1.13 Although the VI CPC had mentioned that grade pay would be equivalent to 40 percent of the maximum of the pre-revised scale and that the grade pay will constitute the actual fitment, yet the computation varied greatly. After the implementation of recommendations, the difference became more pronounced in Pay Band 4 as compared to the other three pay bands. This resulted in varying fitment factors for various levels and promotional benefits that were perceived to be rather differentiated. The same pattern was discernible in the pension fixation too. 5.1.14 After analysing the issues brought out by various stakeholders, this Commission is suggesting a new pay model that is expected to not only address the existing problems but will also establish a rationalised system which is transparent and simple to use.

5.1.15 To begin with, the system of Pay Bands and Grade Pay has been dispensed with and the new functional levels being proposed have been arrived at by merging the grade pay with the pay in the pay band. All of the existing levels have been subsumed in the new structure; no new level has been introduced nor has any existing level been dispensed with.

5.1.16 The pay structures in vogue, by way of pay scales or pay bands, indicate the definite boundaries within which the pay of an individual could lie. It is however difficult to ascertain the exact pay of an individual at any given point of time. Further, the way the pay progression would fan out over a period of time was also not evident. Since various cadres are designed differently the relative pay progression also varies. The Commission believes that any new entrant to a service would wish to be able to make a reasonable and informed assessment of how his/her career path would traverse and how the emoluments will progress alongside. The new pay structure has been devised in the form of a pay matrix to provide complete transparency regarding pay progression.

5.1.17 The Commission has designed the new pay matrix keeping in view the vast opportunities that have opened up outside government over the last three decades, generating greater competition for human resources and the need to attract and retain the best available talent in government services. The nomenclature being used in the new pay matrix assigns levels in place of erstwhile grade pay and Table 3 below brings out the new dispensation for various grades pay pertaining to Civil, Defence and MNS.

5.1.18 Prior to VI CPC, there were Pay Scales. The VI CPC had recommended running Pay Bands with Grade Pay as status determiner. The Seventh CPC is recommending a Pay matrix with distinct Pay Levels. The Level would henceforth be the status determiner.

5.1.19 Since the existing pay bands cover specific groups of employees such as PB-1 for Group `C’ employees, PB-2 for Group `B’ employees and PB-3 onwards for Group `A’ employees, any promotion from one pay band to another is akin to movement from one group to the other. These are significant jumps in the career hierarchy in the Government of India. Rationalisation has been done to ensure that the quantum of jump, in financial terms, between these pay bands is reasonable. This has been achieved by applying ‘index of rationalisation’ from PB-2 onwards on the premise that with enhancement of levels from Pay Band 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and onwards, the role, responsibility and accountability increases at each step in the hierarchy. The proposed pay structure reflects the same principle. Hence, the existing entry pay at each level corresponding to successive grades pay in each pay band, from PB-2 onwards, has been enhanced by an ‘index of rationalisation’ as shown below in Table 4:

5.1.20 While a carefully calibrated gradation has been adopted as the levels progress upwards, it would be seen that two levels, corresponding to GP 8700 and GP 10000 witness a slight departure.

i. In the existing system there is a disproportionate increase in entry pay at the level pertaining to GP 8700. To address this, the proposed increase at this level has been moderated.

ii. In so far as GP 10000 is concerned, this represents the Senior Administrative Grade, which carries a significantly higher degree of responsibility and accountability. Further, the levels of SAG and above are those which are involved in policy formulation.

iii. Hence, in recognition of the same, the entry pay pertaining to GP 10000 as well as that of HAG and HAG+ has been enhanced by a multiple of 2.72.

iv. The Apex pay of Secretary/equivalent and pay of Cabinet Secretary/equivalent has been fixed by applying indices of 2.81 and 2.78 respectively. The rationalised entry pay so arrived has been used in devising the new pay matrix. 5.1.21 The pay matrix comprises two dimensions. It has a “horizontal range” in which each level corresponds to a ‘functional role in the hierarchy’ and has been assigned the numbers 1, 2, and 3 and so on till 18. The “vertical range” for each level denotes ‘pay progression’ within that level. These indicate the steps of annual financial progression of three percent within each level. The starting point of the matrix is the minimum pay which has been arrived based on 15th ILC norms or the Aykroyd formula. This has already been explained in Chapter 4.2.

5.1.22 On recruitment, an employee joins at a particular level and progresses within the level as per the vertical range. The movement is usually on an annual basis, based on annual increments till the time of their next promotion.

5.1.23 When the employee receives a promotion or a non-functional financial upgrade, he/she progresses one level ahead on the horizontal range.

5.1.24 The pay matrix will help chart out the likely path of pay progression along the career ladder of any employee. For example, it can be clearly made out that an employee who does not have any promotional prospects in his cadre will be able to traverse through at least three levels solely by means of assured financial progression or MACP, assuming a career span of 30 years or more.

Recommended Date of implementation: 01.01.2016

Minimum Pay: Based on the Aykroyd formula, the minimum pay in government is recommended to be set at ₹18,000 per month.

Maximum Pay: ₹2,25,000 per month for Apex Scale and ₹2,50,000 per month for Cabinet Secretary and others presently at the same pay level.

Financial Implications:

The total financial impact in the FY 2016-17 is likely to be ₹1,02,100 crore, over the expenditure as per the ‘Business As Usual’ scenario. Of this, the increase in pay would be ₹39,100 crore, increase in allowances would be ₹ 29,300 crore and increase in pension would be ₹33,700 crore.

Out of the total financial impact of ₹1,02,100 crore, ₹73,650 crore will be borne by the General Budget and ₹28,450 crore by the Railway Budget.

In percentage terms the overall increase in pay & allowances and pensions over the ‘Business As Usual’ scenario will be 23.55 percent. Within this, the increase in pay will be 16 percent, increase in allowances will be 63 percent, and increase in pension would be 24 percent.

The total impact of the Commission’s recommendations are expected to entail an increase of 0.65 percentage points in the ratio of expenditure on (Pay+Allowances+ Pension) to GDP compared to 0.77 percent in case of VI CPC.

New Pay Structure: Considering the issues raised regarding the Grade Pay structure and with a view to bring in greater transparency, the present system of pay bands and grade pay has been dispensed with and a new pay matrix has been designed. Grade Pay has been subsumed in the pay matrix. The status of the employee, hitherto determined by grade pay, will now be determined by the level in the pay matrix.

Fitment: A fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees.

Annual Increment: The rate of annual increment is being retained at 3 percent.

Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP):

Performance benchmarks for MACP have been made more stringent from “Good” to “Very Good”.

The Commission has also proposed that annual increments not be granted in the case of those employees who are not able to meet the benchmark either for MACP or for a regular promotion in the first 20 years of their service.

No other changes in MACP recommended.

Military Service Pay (MSP): The Military Service Pay, which is a compensation for the various aspects of military service, will be admissible to the Defence forces personnel only. As before, Military Service Pay will be payable to all ranks up to and inclusive of Brigadiers and their equivalents. The current MSP per month and the revised rates recommended are as follows:

Short Service Commissioned Officers: Short Service Commissioned Officers will be allowed to exit the Armed Forces at any point in time between 7 and 10 years of service, with a terminal gratuity equivalent of 10.5 months of reckonable emoluments. They will further be entitled to a fully funded one year Executive Programme or a M.Tech. programme at a premier Institute.

Lateral Entry/Settlement: The Commission is recommending a revised formulation for lateral entry/resettlement of defence forces personnel which keeps in view the specific requirements of organization to which such personnel will be absorbed. For lateral entry into CAPFs an attractive severance package has been recommended.

Headquarters/Field Parity: Parity between field and headquarters staff recommended for similar functionaries e.g Assistants and Stenos.

Cadre Review: Systemic change in the process of Cadre Review for Group A officers recommended.

Allowances: The Commission has recommended abolishing 52 allowances altogether. Another 36 allowances have been abolished as separate identities, but subsumed either in an existing allowance or in newly proposed allowances. Allowances relating to Risk and Hardship will be governed by the proposed Risk and Hardship Matrix.

Risk and Hardship Allowance: Allowances relating to Risk and Hardship will be governed by the newly proposed nine-cell Risk and Hardship Matrix, with one extra cell at the top, viz., RH-Max to include Siachen Allowance.

The current Siachen Allowance per month and the revised rates recommended are as follows:

This would be the ceiling for risk/hardship allowances and there would be no individual RHA with an amount higher than this allowance.

House Rent Allowance: Since the Basic Pay has been revised upwards, the Commission recommends that HRA be paid at the rate of 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the new Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively. The Commission also recommends that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent respectively when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent.

In the case of PBORs of Defence, CAPFs and Indian Coast Guard compensation for housing is presently limited to the authorised married establishment hence many users are being deprived. The HRA coverage has now been expanded to cover all.

Any allowance not mentioned in the report shall cease to exist.

Emphasis has been placed on simplifying the process of claiming allowances.

Advances:

All non-interest bearing Advances have been abolished.

Regarding interest-bearing Advances, only Personal Computer Advance and House Building Advance (HBA) have been retained. HBA ceiling has been increased to ₹25 lakhs from the present ₹7.5 lakhs.

Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS): The Rates of contribution as also the insurance coverage under the CGEGIS have remained unchanged for long. They have now been enhanced suitably. The following rates of CGEGIS are recommended:

Medical Facilities:

Introduction of a Health Insurance Scheme for Central Government employees and pensioners has been recommended.

Meanwhile, for the benefit of pensioners residing outside the CGHS areas, CGHS should empanel those hospitals which are already empanelled under CS (MA)/ECHS for catering to the medical requirement of these pensioners on a cashless basis.

All postal pensioners should be covered under CGHS. All postal dispensaries should be merged with CGHS.

Pension: The Commission recommends a revised pension formulation for civil employees including CAPF personnel as well as for Defence personnel, who have retired before 01.01.2016. This formulation will bring about parity between past pensioners and current retirees for the same length of service in the pay scale at the time of retirement.

The past pensioners shall first be fixed in the Pay Matrix being recommended by the Commission on the basis of Pay Band and Grade Pay at which they retired, at the minimum of the corresponding level in the pay matrix.

This amount shall be raised to arrive at the notional pay of retirees, by adding number of increments he/she had earned in that level while in service at the rate of 3 percent.

In the case of defence forces personnel this amount will include Military Service Pay as admissible.

Fifty percent of the total amount so arrived at shall be the new pension.

An alternative calculation will be carried out, which will be a multiple of 2.57 times of the current basic pension.

The pensioner will get the higher of the two.

Gratuity: Enhancement in the ceiling of gratuity from the existing ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh. The ceiling on gratuity may be raised by 25 percent whenever DA rises by 50 percent.

Disability Pension for Armed Forces: The Commission is recommending reverting to a slab based system for disability element, instead of existing percentile based disability pension regime.

Ex-gratia Lump sum Compensation to Next of Kin: The Commission is recommending the revision of rates of lump sum compensation for next of kin (NOK) in case of death arising in various circumstances relating to performance of duties, to be applied uniformly for the defence forces personnel and civilians including CAPF personnel.

Martyr Status for CAPF Personnel: The Commission is of the view that in case of death in the line of duty, the force personnel of CAPFs should be accorded martyr status, at par with the defence forces personnel.

New Pension System: The Commission received many grievances relating to NPS. It has recommended a number of steps to improve the functioning of NPS. It has also recommended establishment of a strong grievance redressal mechanism.

Regulatory Bodies: The Commission has recommended a consolidated pay package of ₹4,50,000 and ₹4,00,000 per month for Chairpersons and Members respectively of select Regulatory bodies. In case of retired government servants, their pension will not be deducted from their consolidated pay. The consolidated pay package will be raised by 25 percent as and when Dearness Allowance goes up by 50 percent. For Members of the remaining Regulatory bodies normal replacement pay has been recommended.

Performance Related Pay: The Commission has recommended introduction of the Performance Related Pay (PRP) for all categories of Central Government employees, based on quality Results Framework Documents, reformed Annual Performance Appraisal Reports and some other broad Guidelines. The Commission has also recommended that the PRP should subsume the existing Bonus schemes.

There are few recommendations of the Commission where there was no unanimity of view and these are as follows: The Edge: An edge is presently accordeded to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) at three promotion stages from Senior Time Scale (STS), to the Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) and the NFSG. is recommended by the Chairman, to be extended to the Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS).

Shri Vivek Rae, Member is of the view that financial edge is justified only for the IAS and IFS. Dr. Rathin Roy, Member is of the view that the financial edge accorded to the IAS and IFS should be removed.

Empanelment: The Chairman and Dr. Rathin Roy, Member, recommend that All India Service officers and Central Services Group A officers who have completed 17 years of service should be eligible for empanelment under the Central Staffing Scheme and there should not be “two year edge”, vis-à-vis the IAS. Shri Vivek Rae, Member, has not agreed with this view and has recommended review of the Central Staffing Scheme guidelines.

Non Functional Upgradation for Organised Group ‘A’ Services: The Chairman is of the view that NFU availed by all the organised Group `A’ Services should be allowed to continue and be extended to all officers in the CAPFs, Indian Coast Guard and the Defence forces. NFU should henceforth be based on the respective residency periods in the preceding substantive grade. Shri Vivek Rae, Member and Dr. Rathin Roy, Member, have favoured abolition of NFU at SAG and HAG level.

Superannuation: Chairman and Dr. Rathin Roy, Member, recommend the age of superannuation for all CAPF personnel should be 60 years uniformly. Shri Vivek Rae, Member, has not agreed with this recommendation and has endorsed the stand of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Thousands of central government employees participated in the Dhrna at Jantar Mantar,New Delhi on 19th November, 2015 protesting against the negative approach of the central government on their charter of demands. They slammed the government move to influence the 7th Pay Commission stating financial burden on the government. The Joint Action Committee of central Govt Employees leaders, including Com.Shiv Gopal Mishra, GS,AIRF, Com.M.Krishnan, SG, Confederation, Com.R.N.Parashar, SG,NFPE addressed. Representing the pensioners Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri, Patron, NCCPA and Advisor, AIBDPA also addressed the Dharna.