As highlighted by ET Wealth Online, the Bharat Pensioner Samaj (BPS) and the All India Defence Employees’ Federation (AIDEF) have recently written to the central government to amend the terms of reference (ToR) of the 8th Pay Commission and include clauses related to pension and family pension revision for employees who have retired before January 1, 2026.
Both the BPS and the AIDEF also want the government to take out the clause ‘unfunded cost of non-contributory pension schemes’ from the ToR. The clause, the BPS and the AIDEF claim, is a cause for concern among Old Pension Scheme (OPS) pensioners as they think the government is considering them as a liability rather than ensuring their financial protection.
It’s still up in the air if the central government will accept or reject their demand, but the real question is whether the terms of reference of a pay commission can be amended.
Also Read: 8th Pay Commission news: Have Pay Commission terms of reference been amended in the past?
Can the terms of reference (ToR) of a pay commission be amended?
The ToR of a pay commission broadly consists of two aspects: areas on which a pay commission will work and factors it will consider while working on these areas. A pay commission starts its work only after the government notifies its ToR. In case of the 8th Pay Commission (8th CPC), the terms of reference were notified in November 2025.
Looking at the past pay commission orders and reports available on the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, website, there have been various occasions when the terms of reference of a pay commission have been amended. Here are some of the examples going back to the 5th Pay Commission-
Amendment in 7 th Pay Commission terms of reference
The original ToR were notified on February 28, 2014, where the deadline to submit the report was 18 months, but the government amended ToR through a resolution dated September 8, 2015, where the commission was given a four-month extension to submit its report. As per the amendment, the commission could submit its report till December 31, 2015.
Also Read: Will 8th Pay Commission submit its report before 18-month deadline? Minister clarifies
Amendment s in 6 th Pay Commission terms of reference
The 6th Pay Commission ToR were notified on October 5, 2006. But the government made two amendments to the original ToR.
The first modification was made on December 7, 2006, when the government added a clause that it would also govern the structure of pay, allowances and other facilities of the ‘members of the regulatory bodies (excluding the RBI) set up under Acts of Parliament’.
The government made the second amendment to the 6th CPC ToR on August 8, 2007, where it added a clause saying that it would also govern the salary structure of pay, allowances and other facilities of ‘officers and employees of the Supreme Court of India’.
Amendment s in 5 th Pay Commission terms of reference
In the 5th Pay Commission, ToR were amended not once but four times.
The original ToR was notified in April 1994. The first amendment was made in January 1995 when the government issued interim relief to employees and merged 20% dearness allowance with basic pay for the calculation of gratuity.
The second amendment came in July 1996, when the government provided another interim relief to employees.
In its third amendment in October 1996, the government excluded the members of the subordinate judiciary of union territories from its purview.
In the fourth amendment in November 1996, the government sought examination of different methodologies for the determination and payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB).
The Commission also sought examination of the ad hoc bonus scheme in force in those departments where PLB schemes were not in operation.
With the government amending ToRs of the previous three pay commissions, it will be interesting to see if it amends the 8th CPC ToR and includes the demands of the AIDEF and the BPS regarding the pension and family pension revision for a large number of pensioners.
