Salary and Pay Levels
Pay levels and what they mean in practice. The figure printed in a notification is basic pay, which nobody receives as salary.
Try the calculator. Pick your pay level and city and see basic, DA, HRA, transport allowance and the NPS and CGHS deductions worked out: Government salary calculator.
Guides
- 8th Pay Commission — what is confirmed and what is not
No fitment factor announced
- Salary calculator — in-hand pay by level and city
Interactive tool
- Pay levels 2 to 4 explained
Basic pay is not take-home pay
Your monthly credit is basic pay plus dearness allowance, house rent allowance and transport allowance, minus deductions for the National Pension System and health cover. Depending on level and posting, take-home commonly lands well above the printed basic figure at the start of a career.
City category changes the number substantially
House rent allowance is paid at three rates depending on whether you are posted in an X, Y or Z category city, dropping from 27 per cent of basic pay to 18 and then 9. Two people at the same pay level in different cities are on noticeably different salaries, and the posting is rarely something you choose.
Compare the career, not the starting figure
A post that starts a level lower but promotes faster overtakes one that starts higher and stalls. Transfer liability matters as much as pay for most people. A role that keeps you in one city long term and one with all-India transfer liability are different jobs even at identical salaries.