Govt issues revised BPS-2026 for civil servants

TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Tuesday notified the revised basic pay scales (BPS)-2026 for civil servants, introducing a new salary structure by merging the 2022 and 2025 ad hoc relief allowances while notifying 7 percent Ad hoc Relief Allowance-2026 effective from July 1, 2026.

The government also notified a 50 percent increase in conveyance allowance for civil servants from BPS-1 to BPS-22, providing additional relief to employees under the revised pay package for fiscal year 2026-27.

According to an Office Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Finance, the new Basic Pay Scales-2026 will replace the existing BPS-2022 structure for all federal civil employees paid from civil and defence estimates. The government said the revised scales have been formulated by incorporating the Ad hoc Relief Allowance-2022 and Ad hoc Relief Allowance-2025 into the basic pay, thereby creating a new pay structure from July 1, 2026.

According to the notification, the basic pay of serving employees as of June 30, 2026, will be fixed on a point-to-point basis in the new pay scales, while annual increments will continue to be admissible on December 1 under the existing rules.

In addition to the revised scales, the government notified Ad hoc Relief Allowance-2026 at the rate of 7 percent of the running basic pay under BPS-2026 for federal civil employees, civilians paid out of defence estimates, contingent paid staff and contract employees appointed against civil posts on standard terms and conditions. The allowance will remain effective until further orders.

The Finance Ministry clarified that the new allowance will be subject to income tax and will be admissible during leave, leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) and suspension, but will not count towards pension, gratuity or house rent calculations. Employees posted abroad will not receive the allowance during the period of foreign posting but will become eligible upon repatriation at the applicable rate.

The notification also abolishes the 15 percent Ad hoc Relief Allowance-2022 and the 10 percent Ad hoc Relief Allowance-2025 with effect from July 1, 2026, following their merger into the revised pay scales.

The government has further decided that all special pays and allowances calculated as a percentage of basic pay—including house rent allowance and the allowance equal to one month’s basic pay—will remain frozen at the level admissible on June 30, 2026, except for those already subject to prescribed maximum limits.

Employees have been given 30 days to exercise an irrevocable option to either continue under the BPS-2022 scheme or shift to the new BPS-2026 structure. However, any employee failing to exercise the option within the stipulated period will automatically be deemed to have opted for the revised pay scales.

The revised pay chart substantially raises the minimum basic pay across all grades. For instance, the minimum basic pay for BPS-1 has increased from Rs13,550 to Rs16,280, while BPS-22 now starts at Rs146,770 compared with Rs122,190 under the previous structure. Similar upward revisions have been notified for all grades from BPS-1 to BPS-22.

To address implementation issues, the Finance Division has also announced the establishment of an Anomaly Committee to examine and resolve any anomalies arising from the implementation of the Revised Basic Pay Scales-2026.

According to another OM, the revised conveyance allowance will take effect from July 1, 2026, and will be paid on the existing terms and conditions.

Under the revised rates, employees in BPS-1 to BPS-4 will receive Rs2,678 per month, up from Rs1,785. Employees in BPS-5 to BPS-10 will now receive Rs2,898, compared with the previous Rs1,932. For employees in BPS-11 to BPS-15, the allowance has been increased from Rs2,856 to Rs4,284 per month. Officials in BPS-16 and above, including officers up to BPS-22, will receive Rs7,500 per month, against the earlier Rs5,000.

The Finance Ministry has directed all federal ministries, divisions and departments to implement the revised conveyance allowance with retrospective effect from July 1, 2026, as part of the government’s salary revision package for the current fiscal year.

Further the government has notified the continued admissibility of the Executive Allowance for officers in Basic Pay Scales (BPS) 17 to 22, allowing the benefit to be calculated on the basic pay as on June 30, 2026, with effect from July 1, 2026.