8th Pay Commission: Now the government will not be responsible for the financial benefits of retired employees. This means that those who have already retired will no longer get the benefit of any new pay commission or DA increase.
Finance Act 2025: The government has taken a big decision regarding the Eighth Pay Commission and Finance Act 2025. According to a report by Lokmat, under the recently passed Finance Act 2025, now retired government employees will not get any benefit of increase in dearness allowance and Eighth Pay Commission. That is, the government has made a big change in post-retirement benefits. Which can affect the income of lakhs of pensioners.
It has been made clear in the Act that now the government will not be responsible for the financial benefits of retired employees. This means that those who have already retired will no longer get the benefit of any new pay commission or DA increase.
If in future the government makes any change in pension or allowance, then that decision will depend on the will of the government and will come into effect from the same date on which the decision is taken. That is, no outstanding payment will be made to the pensioners and these provisions cannot be legally challenged.
What will be the impact on retired government employees?
At present, the Pension Act 1972 is applicable for government employees. According to this law, many retired employees get pension and other benefits. However, this law does not apply to all types of pensioners, due to which this issue has already reached the Supreme Court. On 17 September 1982, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that all retired employees should be treated equally, irrespective of the date on which they retired.
In this decision, it was said that the pension should be 50% of the last salary taken and other related benefits should also be given along with it. This decision was considered a milestone for pensioners. Since then, 17 September is celebrated as ‘Pensioners Day’.
Unions expressed concern
However, it has been made clear in the Finance Act 2025 that employees who have already retired will not get any benefit of the 8th Pay Commission and the increase in Dearness Allowance (DA). In this way, the Pension Act 1972 will not be applicable in such cases. Now the government will decide whether to increase the pension or allowances or not. Even if the government makes any increase, arrears will not be given.
Retired government employees and their unions have expressed concern about this new policy. They say that these provisions destroy the spirit of the historic decision of the Supreme Court of 1982, which talked about giving equal rights to all pensioners.
