Who are entitled to 7th Pay Commission additional Bunching increment ?

Who are entitled to 7th Pay Commission additional Bunching increment ?

Who are entitled to 7th Pay Commission Bunching Benefit as per Para 5.1.36 of Pay Commission report ? – As per Illustration provided in the report Employees in GP 10,000 who are fitted in to minimum of Level 14 of New Pay Matrix will be eligible for one additional increment and would be fitted in to next cell of Level 14.

7th Pay Commission Pay Fixation:

As per Para 5.1.28 of 7th Pay Commission Report, pay fixation in the new pay structure will have to be made as follows

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

In addition to above, 7th Pay Commission proposes bunching benefit in Para 5.1.36 whenever more than two stages are bunched together for fixation of pay in 7th CPC pay matrix, one additional increment equal to 3 percent may be given for every two stages bunched, and pay fixed in the subsequent cell in the pay matrix.

Further, Para 5.1.37 of the report provides an illustration for fixation of pay of two employees who are drawing pay of Rs 53,000 and Rs54,590 in the GP 10000.

As per this illustration, after applying 7CPC multiplication factor of 2.57, both of these employees will have to be fixed in first cell of level 15 in the pay of Rs1,44,200 as their revised pay are worked out to Rs1,36,210 and Rs1,40,296 respectively which are not more than the first cell of level 15 (Rs1,44,200)

But to avoid bunching of these two stages of pay, the person drawing pay of Rs54,590 will get fixed in second cell of level 15 in the pay of Rs1,48,500, while the other who is drawing pay of Rs 53,000 will have to be fixed in Rs1,44,200.

Based on this illustration, a table containing Entry pay of Rs. 53,000 in GP 10000, subsequent stages for this pay (pay with increment of 3% for every year) and 7th Pay Commission pay fixation for the same has been prepared as below.

** One increment as bunching benefit

Employees in Grade Pay 5400, 6600, 7600 and 8900 who are fixed in stages next to entry pay will also be entitled to 7th Pay Commission Bunching Benefit

Applying same principles, we could find that next stage in entry pay in respect of Grade Pay 5400, 6600, 7600 and 8900 would be entitled to one additional increment as bunching benefit

1. Grade pay 5400 corresponding to pay band 15600-39100 (Entry Pay Rs. 21000 and subsequent stages of pay with increment of 3% for every year)

** One increment as bunching benefit

2. Grade pay 6600 (Entry Pay Rs. 25350 and subsequent stages of pay with increment of 3% for every year)

** One increment as bunching benefit

3. Grade pay 7600 (Entry Pay Rs. 29500 and subsequent stages of pay with increment of 3% for every year)

** One increment as bunching benefit

4. Grade pay 8900 (Entry Pay Rs. 49100 and subsequent stages of pay with increment of 3% for every year)

** One increment as bunching benefit

Whether Employees in who are fixed in the middle stages of new 7th CPC pay matrix will be eligible for Bunching Benefit ?

Relevant portions of 7th Pay Commission report (para 5.1.36 and Para 5.1.37) that discuss about Bunching increment are given under the heading “Entry Pay”.

The illustration provided by 7th CPC for fixation of pay with bunching increment also discusses only about entry pay in a grade pay.

Also, Para 5.1.28 of 7th Pay Commission Report which explains the method of fitment of existing 6th CPC pay in all stages in to 7th Pay Commission Pay Matrix does not contain any explanation about Bunching increment

Hence, it is not clear from the 7CPC report whether bunching benefit would apply to employees who are fixed in middle stages of new pay matrix.

For instance, we analysed the pay fixation of entry pay pertaining to Grade Pay Rs. 1800 and Grade Pay Rs. 2400 and its subsequent stages of pay with increment of 3% for every year

## Bunching of 6cpc pay in two stages in to one stage of 7CPC Pay Matrix

From the above, it could be seen that Pay pertains to Grade Pay of Rs. 1800 and Rs. 2400 in middle stages are getting bunched and fitted in to one stage of new pay structure as per the methods of fitment envisaged by 7th Pay Commission.

However, 7th pay Commission report has not discussed about applicability of Bunching Benefit in respect of pay fixation in middle stages of new pay matrix. It is also not clear whether bunching increment would apply to subsequent stages of pay when bunching increment is given to previous stage in the same level. For instance, 7th Pay Commission has recommended that pay of Rs. 54590 in GP 10,000 will be eligible for bunching increment and will be fitted in new of pay of Rs. 148,500. However, there is no discussion about the subsequent stage to Rs. 54,490 in GP 10,000 which is also getting fixed in same new Pay of Rs. 148,500/-

We are of the opinion that to clarify all these doubts, Govt has to come up clear-cut Clarification on Bunching Increment issue while 7th Pay Commission report is implemented.