Pay band

A pay band was one of the four running salary ranges of the 6th CPC (PB-1 to PB-4), each read with a grade pay to give basic pay, before the pay matrix.

Updated 9 August 2026

A pay band was a broad running salary range used under the 6th Central Pay Commission, from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2015, within which an employee’s pay moved, and to which a grade pay was attached to each post so that basic pay was the pay drawn in the band plus the grade pay. There were four pay bands, with a scale below them and the higher administrative and apex scales above. Pay bands are no longer used: the 7th Central Pay Commission abolished the pay bands and grade pay from 1 January 2016 and replaced both with the 18 levels of the pay matrix.

Pay bands are the companion concept to grade pay, and together they were the structure of central government pay for the decade before the pay matrix. This article sets out what a pay band was, the four pay bands and their ranges, how the pay band and the grade pay combined to give basic pay, how pay moved within a band, why the pay bands replaced the many separate scales of the 5th Central Pay Commission, and how the 7th CPC replaced them with the pay matrix.

What a pay band was

A pay band was a running range of pay, a single wide scale covering many grades, introduced by the 6th Central Pay Commission to replace the many narrow pay scales that had gone before. Instead of a separate scale for each grade, the 6th CPC grouped grades into four broad bands, so that pay progressed within a band and the grade of the post was marked separately by the grade pay attached to it.

The pay band on its own did not distinguish rank, because many grades shared a band. Rank was carried by the grade pay. So the pay band supplied the range and the grade pay supplied the seniority, and the two were always read together.

The four pay bands

There were four running pay bands, with a holding scale below the first and the higher administrative and apex scales above the fourth. The ranges, in rupees per month under the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008, were as follows.

Pay band or scale	Range (Rs per month)
-1S (below Pay Band-1)	4,440 to 7,440
Pay Band-1	5,200 to 20,200
Pay Band-2	9,300 to 34,800
Pay Band-3	15,600 to 39,100
Pay Band-4	37,400 to 67,000
Higher Administrative Grade	67,000 to 79,000
Higher Administrative Grade Plus	75,500 to 80,000
Apex Scale (fixed)	80,000
Cabinet Secretary (fixed)	90,000

The -1S scale was a holding scale for certain pre-revised grades below Pay Band-1, and it did carry grade pay: Rs. 1,300, Rs. 1,400, Rs. 1,600 and Rs. 1,650, attached to the pre-revised S-1, S-2, S-2A and S-3 scales respectively in Table 2.2.2 of the 6th CPC report. What set it apart is that the report directs that the scale is not to be counted for any purpose, because no fresh recruitment was to be made to it and its occupants were to be retrained and moved into Pay Band-1 when the 6th Central Pay Commission abolished Group D. The top rungs are different again: the Apex Scale at Rs. 80,000 and the Cabinet Secretary at Rs. 90,000 were fixed figures with no range, because there was no progression above them, and the Higher Administrative Grade and above carried no grade pay at all.

Pay band plus grade pay

Basic pay under the 6th CPC was the sum of two components: the pay drawn within the running pay band, and the grade pay of the post. An employee with pay of Rs. 20,000 in Pay Band-2 and a grade pay of Rs. 4,200 had a basic pay of Rs. 24,200, on which dearness allowance and the other allowances were computed. The pay band gave the range; the grade pay gave the fixed addition that marked the grade.

This two-part construction is the defining feature of the 6th CPC pay and the thing the 7th CPC changed. Because pay was a band figure plus a grade pay, an employee had to combine two numbers to know their basic pay, and fixation on promotion meant working with both, which was harder to read and prone to anomaly than a single figure.

Movement within a band

An employee’s pay moved within the band through the annual increment. Each year the pay rose by 3% of the sum of the pay in the band and the grade pay, staying within the same band and at the same grade pay, until the top of the band was reached. A promotion moved the employee to a higher grade pay, and where necessary to a higher band, which is where the pay band and the grade pay interacted.

Because a single band spanned many grades, an employee could remain in the same pay band for most of a career while rising through grade pays on promotion, or could stay at the same grade pay while the band pay rose through increments. The band was the container; the grade pay and the increment moved the employee within and between the containers.

Why pay bands replaced the many scales

Before the 6th CPC, central government pay ran on a large number of distinct pay scales, one for each grade, each with its own minimum, maximum, and increment. Comparing posts across departments was difficult, and fixation on moving between scales was complicated. The 6th Central Pay Commission collapsed these many scales into four running pay bands with grade pay, a first attempt at a common spine for the whole civil service. The pay band was the tool of that simplification: a few broad bands in place of dozens of narrow scales.

How the 7th CPC replaced pay bands

The 7th Central Pay Commission took the simplification further and removed the pay band entirely. From 1 January 2016 it abolished both the pay bands and the grade pay, and folded them into a single pay matrix of 18 levels, in which each post is one level and each salary is a printed cell. The fitment factor of 2.57 converted the old basic pay, band pay plus grade pay, into a cell of the mapped level.

So the pay band, like the grade pay, is now history. An employee who joined before 2016 moved from a pay band and grade pay to a pay-matrix level and cell on the changeover; one who joined after 2016 has only ever had a level. The pay matrix carries forward the idea of a common spine that the pay band introduced, but in a single dimension rather than a band-plus-grade-pay pair.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a pay band?

A pay band was a broad running salary range used under the 6th Central Pay Commission, from 2006 to 2016. Every post was placed in one of four pay bands, and a grade pay was attached to it. Basic pay was the pay drawn within the band plus the grade pay. The 7th CPC replaced pay bands with the pay matrix.

What were the four pay bands?

Pay Band-1 was Rs. 5,200 to 20,200, Pay Band-2 was Rs. 9,300 to 34,800, Pay Band-3 was Rs. 15,600 to 39,100, and Pay Band-4 was Rs. 37,400 to 67,000. Below them was a -1S scale, and above them the Higher Administrative Grade and the fixed apex scales up to the Cabinet Secretary’s Rs. 90,000.

How did pay bands and grade pay work together?

The pay band was the range within which pay moved, and the grade pay was a fixed amount attached to the post to mark its seniority. Basic pay was the sum of the two, so an employee’s pay was a band figure plus a grade pay, not a single figure. This two-part structure was the defining feature of the 6th CPC pay.

What replaced pay bands?

The 7th Central Pay Commission abolished pay bands and grade pay from 1 January 2016 and replaced both with a single pay matrix of 18 levels, in which each post is one level and each salary is a printed cell, removing the band-and-grade-pay structure entirely.

Which pay band was grade pay Rs. 4,200 in?

Grade pay Rs. 4,200 was in Pay Band-2 (Rs. 9,300 to 34,800). Under the 7th CPC that grade maps to Level 6 of the pay matrix, with an entry pay of Rs. 35,400, since the pay bands and grade pay were replaced by the single pay matrix from 1 January 2016.

What was the -1S pay scale?

The -1S scale (Rs. 4,440 to 7,440) was a holding scale below Pay Band-1 under the 6th CPC, used for certain pre-revised grades that were being phased out. It carried four grade pays, Rs. 1,300 for the pre-revised S-1 scale, Rs. 1,400 for S-2, Rs. 1,600 for S-2A and Rs. 1,650 for S-3, but it was not a regular pay band and the 6th CPC report directs that it is not to be counted for any purpose, because no fresh recruitment was to be made to it. Those grades were later placed in the pay matrix.

External references

References

Report of the Sixth Central Pay Commission (submitted 24 March 2008) and the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008, prescribing the four running pay bands and grade pay.
Report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission (submitted 19 November 2015), on the abolition of pay bands and grade pay and the move to the pay matrix.
Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016 (gazette notification G.S.R. 721(E), dated 25 July 2016), prescribing the pay matrix that replaced the pay bands.