7th Pay Commission additional Bunching increment

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

7th Pay Commission bunching Benefit:

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 ₹53,000 and ₹54,590 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 ₹1,44,200 as their revisesd pay are worked out to ₹1,36,210 and ₹1,40,296 respectively which are not more than the first cell of level 15 (₹1,44,200)

But to avoid bunching of these two stages of pay, the person drawing pay of ₹54,590 will get fixed in second cell of level 15 in the pay of ₹1,48,500, while the other who is drawing pay of ₹ 53,000 will have to be fixed in ₹1,44,200.

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.

7CPC pay fixation for GP 10,000
6cpc pay	basic pay X 2.57	7cpc pay matrix	Fixation in 7CPC pay with bunching increment if applicable
53000	136210	144200	144200
54590	140296	144200	**148500
56230	144511	148500	148500

** 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)

7CPC pay fixation for GP 5400 (15600-39100)
6cpc pay	basic pay X 2.57	7cpc pay matrix	Fixation in 7CPC pay with bunching increment if applicable
21000	53970	56100	56100
21630	55589	56100	57800 **
22280	57260	57800	57800
22950	58982	59500	59500

** 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)

7CPC pay fixation for GP 6600
6cpc pay	basic pay X 2.57	7cpc pay matrix	Fixation in 7CPC pay with bunching increment if applicable
25350	65150	67700	67700
26120	67128	67700	69700 **
26910	69159	69700	69700
27720	71240	71800	71800

** 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)

7CPC pay fixation for GP 7600
6cpc pay	basic pay X 2.57	7cpc pay matrix	Fixation in 7CPC pay with bunching increment if applicable
29500	75815	78800	78800
30390	78102	78800	81200 **
31310	80467	81200	81200
32250	82883	83600	83600

** 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)

7CPC pay fixation for GP 8900
6cpc pay	basic pay X 2.57	7cpc pay matrix	Fixation in 7CPC pay with bunching increment if applicable
49100	126187	131100	131100
50580	129991	131100	135000 **
52100	133897	135000	135000
53670	137932	139100	139100

** 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

7CPC pay fixation for GP 1800
6cpc pay	basic pay X 2.57	7cpc pay matrix	Fixation in 7CPC pay
7000	17990	18000	18000
7210	18530	19100	19100
7430	19095	19100	19100 ##
7660	19686	20300	20300
7890	20277	20900	20900

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

7CPC pay fixation for GP 2400
6cpc pay	basic pay X 2.57	7cpc pay matrix	Fixation in 7CPC pay
11170	28707	29600	29600
11510	29581	30500	30500
11860	30480	30500	30500 ##
12220	31405	32300	32300
12590	32356	33300	33300

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