SSC CHSL salary

SSC CHSL salary is the pay of the Group C central government posts that the Staff Selection Commission fills through its Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination, set at Level 2, Level 4 and Level 5 of the 7th Central Pay Commission pay matrix with an entry basic pay of Rs. 19,900 to Rs. 29,200. The posts and their levels are fixed by paragraph 1 of the CHSL 2026 notice, F. No. HQ-C1102/5/2026-C-1, uploaded on 7 September 2026 for about 2,536 tentative vacancies.

The 2026 notice lists three posts. Lower Division Clerk, also called Junior Secretariat Assistant, is at Level 2. Data Entry Operator is at Level 4 or Level 5, and Data Entry Operator Grade A is at Level 4. On the entry basic come dearness allowance at 60% from 1 January 2026, house rent allowance by city class and transport allowance by station, and at the entry cell the monthly in-hand runs from Rs. 31,806 for a clerk in a Z-class city to Rs. 56,288 for a Level 5 operator in an X-class city. No income tax is payable at any CHSL entry cell.

Postal Assistant and Sorting Assistant are not in the 2025 or 2026 CHSL notice. They now sit among the Level 4 posts of the graduate-level SSC CGL examination. The sections below give the pay of each CHSL post, the in-hand by city, the transport allowance step that lifts a clerk’s pay after seven increments, the selection rules that decide which post a candidate gets, and the promotion route out of Level 2.

SSC CHSL posts by pay level

The CHSL 2026 notice states three posts in paragraph 1, and each pay range is the first and last cell of its level in the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016 matrix (G.S.R. 721(E), 25 July 2016).

Source: paragraph 1 of the CHSL 2026 notice. All three posts are Group C under DoPT notification S.O. 3964(E) dated 9 August 2018, which classifies central civil posts at Levels 1 to 5 as Group C.

The Data Entry Operator carries two levels and the notice does not say which office pays which. Paragraph 1.2 gives Level 4 and Level 5 for the same title without naming the offices, and the “Grade A” label is tied to Level 4 alone. Paragraph 2.1 says only that post-wise and category-wise vacancies will be published under Candidate’s Corner on ssc.gov.in. Because preferences are final once submitted (paragraph 15.2), the choice between DEO vacancies carries a real price: Level 5 pays Rs. 3,700 more entry basic and Rs. 6,438 more in-hand a month in an X-class city.

The posts serve “various Ministries/ Departments/ Offices of the Government of India and various Constitutional Bodies/ Statutory Bodies/ Tribunals”, in the notice’s own words. The LDC or JSA in the ministries belongs to the Central Secretariat Clerical Service; an LDC in an attached office, a tribunal or the Border Roads Organisation belongs to that office’s own clerical cadre on the same Level 2.

The vacancy count moves every year. The CHSL 2025 notice (F. No. HQ-C1102/9/2025-C-1, uploaded 23 June 2025) gave about 3,131 tentative vacancies; the 2026 notice gives about 2,536, which is 595 fewer. Both are tentative, and the Commission updates them after scrutiny of what the user departments report.

Entry in-hand salary by level and city

At the 60% dearness allowance in force from 1 January 2026 (Department of Expenditure OM No. 1/1(i)/2026-E.II(B) dated 22 April 2026), the monthly in-hand at the entry cell of each CHSL level is:

The X column assumes a station named in the transport allowance annexure, which every X-class city is; the Y and Z columns assume a station outside it. Income tax is nil in every cell. The table is a salary-calculator.in computation from the pay matrix and the allowance and deduction rates in the next two sections, and each level link opens the salary by pay level calculator at that level for a different city, pension scheme or tax regime. The Level 4 and Level 5 rows match the same levels on the SSC CGL salary page, because a CHSL Data Entry Operator and a CGL Tax Assistant at Level 4 are paid identically.

A Y-class station inside the annexure, such as Lucknow, Jaipur, Patna or Kochi, raises the Y column. At Levels 4 and 5 the rise is Rs. 2,880 a month, because the transport allowance there is Rs. 3,600 plus dearness allowance. At Level 2 it is Rs. 720, because the clerk’s annexure rate is Rs. 1,350 against Rs. 900 elsewhere, so a Lower Division Clerk in Jaipur takes home Rs. 34,516.

How the in-hand is built

The in-hand is gross pay less four deductions. For a Lower Division Clerk at the Level 2 entry cell in an X-class city at 60% dearness allowance it works out as follows:

House rent allowance is 30%, 20% or 10% of basic pay in an X, Y or Z-class city, with floors of Rs. 5,400, Rs. 3,600 and Rs. 1,800, under OM No. 2/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017. The rates reached their present level when dearness allowance crossed 50% on 1 January 2024. The floors come close at Level 2 without biting: 10% of Rs. 19,900 is Rs. 1,990, only Rs. 190 above the Z-class floor. The city classification for HRA article lists which station falls in which class.

Transport allowance follows the level band and the station, under OM No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 7 July 2017. The Level 4 and Level 5 Data Entry Operator is in the Levels 3 to 8 band and draws Rs. 3,600 a month in the 19 urban agglomerations named in the annexure to that OM and Rs. 1,800 elsewhere, each plus dearness allowance. Levels 1 and 2 draw Rs. 1,350 and Rs. 900. Of the Rs. 13,344 a month by which the clerk’s X-class in-hand trails the Level 4 operator’s, Rs. 3,600 comes from the transport allowance band; dearness allowance and house rent allowance following the Rs. 5,600 gap in basic add Rs. 5,040, and the higher pension contribution takes back Rs. 896.

The deductions are the 10% employee contribution to the National Pension System on basic pay plus dearness allowance; the CGHS contribution of Rs. 250 at Levels 1 to 5, under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare OM No. S.11011/11/2016-CGHS(P)/EHS dated 9 January 2017; and the Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme subscription of Rs. 30 for Group C, at the rates in force from 1 January 1990 under Department of Expenditure OM F.7(5)-EV/89. A Level 5 operator in an X-class city therefore loses Rs. 4,672, Rs. 250 and Rs. 30 from a gross of Rs. 61,240. The take-home salary article runs the same build for every level of the matrix.

The Rs. 24,200 transport allowance step for a Level 2 clerk

A Lower Division Clerk’s transport allowance rises from Rs. 1,350 to Rs. 3,600 in an annexure city, and from Rs. 900 to Rs. 1,800 elsewhere, once the clerk’s pay reaches Rs. 24,200, which happens at the eighth cell of Level 2 after seven annual increments. The condition is not in the parent transport allowance OM of 7 July 2017. It was added by a Department of Expenditure order of 2 August 2017, issued under the same F. No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B) and effective from 1 July 2017, which grants employees “drawing pay of Rs.24200/- & above in Pay Level 1 & 2 of the Pay Matrix” the Rs. 3,600 and Rs. 1,800 rates of the Levels 3 to 8 band.

Level 2 has no cell at Rs. 24,200. Cell 7 is Rs. 23,800 and cell 8 is Rs. 24,500, so the step falls between them. In an X-class city at 60% dearness allowance:

The single increment from cell 7 to cell 8 raises the in-hand by Rs. 4,818 a month, of which Rs. 3,600 is the transport allowance step. An ordinary Level 2 increment of Rs. 700 adds about Rs. 1,200 to the in-hand once dearness allowance and house rent allowance follow it, so this one increment is worth roughly four. A clerk promoted to Upper Division Clerk at Level 4 before reaching cell 8 gets the Rs. 3,600 or Rs. 1,800 rate from the promotion instead, because Level 4 is in the Levels 3 to 8 band.

Income tax on SSC CHSL salary

No CHSL post pays income tax at its entry cell, under either regime. Under the default regime in Section 202 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, the Rs. 75,000 standard deduction in Section 19(1) Table serial 2 and the Section 156 rebate of up to Rs. 60,000 together make tax nil on salary up to Rs. 12,75,000 a year for an employee with no other income. The highest CHSL entry figure, Level 5 in an X-class city, is Rs. 61,240 a month or Rs. 7,34,880 a year, Rs. 5,40,120 short of that line.

The old regime has a smaller rebate, Rs. 12,500, which stops at a total income of Rs. 5,00,000. The Level 2 clerk’s gross in an X-class city is Rs. 4,79,640 a year, under Rs. 5,00,000 before any deduction is claimed, so the clerk pays nothing under the old regime either. A Level 4 or Level 5 operator’s gross is above Rs. 5,00,000, and whether tax falls due under the old regime then depends on the deductions claimed. The full slab arithmetic is in new tax regime and the comparison in old vs new tax regime.

Pay growth after joining

A CHSL recruit’s pay rises through four separate mechanisms after joining: the annual increment, each dearness allowance revision, promotion, and MACP.

Annual increment. One cell down the same level, about 3%, under Rule 9 of the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016. Rule 10 fixes one date a year: an employee appointed between 2 January and 1 July gets the increment on 1 January, and one appointed between 2 July and 1 January gets it on 1 July, subject to six months’ qualifying service. The annual increment article covers the dating rule.

Source: 7th CPC pay matrix, CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016.

Dearness allowance. Revised for 1 January and 1 July each year against the AICPI-IW index and paid on whatever cell the employee stands on. Each rise of 2 percentage points adds Rs. 398 a month at the Level 2 entry basic and Rs. 510 at Level 4. The expected DA page tracks the next revision.

Promotion. A move to the promotional post’s level, with pay fixed under FR 22 by the pay fixation on promotion method. The clerical route is set out in the next section.

MACP. Under DoPT OM No. 35034/3/2015-Estt.(D) dated 22 October 2019, an employee not promoted is placed in the next level of the pay matrix at 10, 20 and 30 years of regular service, or after 10 years in the same level, whichever is earlier, up to three upgradations in a career. A Lower Division Clerk who is never promoted reaches Level 3 at 10 years, and a Level 4 Data Entry Operator reaches Level 5. The Modified Assured Career Progression article covers the benchmark and the pay fixation, and MACP vs promotion the difference between the two.

Promotion from Lower Division Clerk

In the Central Secretariat Clerical Service, a Lower Division Clerk is promoted to the Upper Division Grade at Level 4 through a Select List filled in the ratio 3:1 from two sources. The rule is regulation 2(1) of the regulations for the Upper Division Grade Select List under rule 11(3) of the Central Secretariat Clerical Service Rules, 1962, as amended by DoPT notification No. 12/3/93-CS.II dated 22 November 1995:

• Three places by seniority, for Lower Division Clerks who have completed probation, passed the typewriting test or been exempted from it, and rendered at least eight years’ approved service in the grade, subject to rejection of the unfit.
• One place by examination, for Lower Division Clerks selected in order of merit through a limited departmental competitive examination held by the Staff Selection Commission. Eligibility for that examination is set by the Central Secretariat Clerical Service (Upper Division Grade Limited Departmental Competitive Examination) Regulations, 1966, which require five years’ approved and continuous service in the Lower Division Grade.

The CHSL notice writes the post as “LDC/JSA” because the grade is also called Junior Secretariat Assistant, and its Upper Division counterpart Senior Secretariat Assistant. The examination route is the faster one: a clerk who clears it in the sixth year reaches Level 4 two years before the earliest seniority promotion, and Level 4 also moves the clerk past the Rs. 24,200 transport allowance threshold at once. Beyond the Senior Secretariat Assistant grade the route leads into the Level 7 Assistant Section Officer grade of the Central Secretariat Service, whose promotion quota and service condition are set out in that article.

A clerk outside the secretariat, and every Data Entry Operator, is promoted under the recruitment rules of the post in the employing office, which differ by office. Where those rules give no promotion within 10 years, MACP supplies the next level.

Pension and retirement benefits

Every CHSL recruit joins after 1 January 2004 and is covered by the National Pension System under Ministry of Finance notification No. 5/7/2003-ECB-PR dated 22 December 2003, not the Old Pension Scheme. The employee pays 10% of basic pay plus dearness allowance, Rs. 3,184 a month at the Level 2 entry cell and Rs. 4,080 at Level 4, and the government adds 14%, Rs. 4,458 and Rs. 5,712.

From 1 April 2025 an NPS-covered central government employee may opt for the Unified Pension Scheme under Department of Financial Services notification F. No. FX-1/3/2024-PR dated 24 January 2025. The employee contribution stays at 10%, so the in-hand table does not change. The scheme assures 50% of the last 12 months’ average basic pay after 25 years of qualifying service, with a minimum of Rs. 10,000 a month after 10 years. The trade-offs are set out in NPS vs OPS vs UPS.

On retirement or death the post also carries gratuity, leave encashment of up to 300 days of earned leave, and the group insurance savings fund built from the Rs. 30 monthly subscription.

Eligibility: qualification and age

Qualification. The CHSL 2026 notice sets the essential qualification as on 7 October 2026, the closing date for applications:

• For the Data Entry Operator or DEO Grade A post in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Staff Selection Commission and the Ministry of Culture: a 12th standard pass in the science stream with mathematics as a subject (paragraph 8.1).
• For Lower Division Clerk or Junior Secretariat Assistant, and for Data Entry Operator posts in every other office: a 12th standard pass from a recognised board or university, in any stream (paragraph 8.2).

A candidate who has appeared in the 12th standard examination may apply but must hold the qualification by 7 October 2026 (paragraph 8.3). The CHSL 2025 notice names the same three offices in its paragraph 8.1, and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is not among them in either year.

Age. Every CHSL post has the same band, 18 to 27 years, counted as on 1 August 2026 under DoPT OM No. 14017/70/87-Estt.(RR) dated 14 July 1988 (paragraph 5.1). A candidate must be born not before 2 August 1999 and not later than 1 August 2008. Paragraph 5.2 permits these relaxations:

The application fee is Rs. 100 (paragraph 10.1). Women, SC, ST, persons with benchmark disabilities and ex-servicemen eligible for reservation pay nothing (paragraph 10.2). The reservation in central government jobs article covers how the user departments earmark the reserved vacancies, which paragraph 3.2 of the notice leaves wholly to them.

The examination, the cut-offs and the typing test

CHSL is a two-tier computer-based examination under paragraph 13 of the 2026 notice, and only Tier-II counts for merit.

Source: paragraphs 13.8 and 13.9 of the CHSL 2026 notice. Sections I to III form Session-I of Tier-II and Section IV forms Session-II, on the same day.

Minimum qualifying marks under paragraph 17.1 are 30% for unreserved candidates, 25% for OBC and EWS, and 20% for every other category, applied separately to Tier-I and to Sections I, II and III of Tier-II. Paragraph 17.3 allows separate category-wise cut-offs for three post groups: the DEO posts in the paragraph 8.1 offices, the other DEO posts, and LDC or JSA.

The final merit list rests on the aggregate of Sections I and II of Tier-II, 360 marks, subject to qualifying Sections III and IV (paragraph 17.9). A tie is broken first by Section I marks, then by Tier-I marks, then by date of birth with the older candidate higher (paragraph 18).

The skill and typing tests separate the three posts:

• LDC or JSA: a typing test of 10 minutes at 35 words a minute in English or 30 in Hindi, which the notice equates to about 10,500 and 9,000 key depressions an hour; Hindi must be typed in Mangal font (paragraph 13.9.13.7).
• DEO or DEO Grade A in the paragraph 8.1 offices: 15,000 key depressions an hour, entering a passage of about 3,700 to 4,000 key depressions in 15 minutes.
• DEO or DEO Grade A elsewhere: 8,000 key depressions an hour, entering about 2,000 to 2,200 key depressions in 15 minutes.

No Data Entry Operator candidate is exempted from the skill test. A candidate with a physical disability that permanently prevents typing, certified by a civil surgeon of a government health care institution, may be exempted from the LDC typing test; the exemption does not cover visual or hearing disability alone.

Selection rules that fix the post and therefore the pay

Four rules in the CHSL 2026 notice decide which post a candidate ends up in, and so which row of the in-hand table applies.

Preferences are final. Paragraphs 15.1 and 15.2 take post and department preferences through an online option form before the first round of tentative allocation, and treat them as “FINAL and IRREVERSIBLE”. A candidate not considered for a post because it was not listed has no remedy, and one who misses the window is left out of the first allocation altogether (paragraph 15.3).

Allotment is final. Under paragraph 17.11, once a post is allotted on merit-cum-preference no change is made if the candidate fails that post’s physical, medical or educational standard; the candidature is rejected. The Lower Division Clerk post in the Border Roads Organisation carries physical, efficiency and medical standards set out in Annexure-XVI and, under paragraph 4.4, is open only to men.

No waiting list. Paragraph 16.3 states that the Commission keeps no waiting or reserve list for “multi factor examinations” and instead runs a sliding mechanism through the first round of tentative allocation.

Service liability and language. Every CHSL post carries all-India service liability (paragraph 17.18), and a recruit allotted a State or zone may have to acquire the local language for confirmation (paragraph 17.19).

Probation

A CHSL recruit serves two years’ probation under paragraph 17.17 of the 2026 notice, during which the controlling authority may prescribe training or examinations, and is confirmed on completing it if found fit. Probation does not reduce pay: the recruit draws the entry cell of the post’s level and every allowance from the date of joining. Extension and confirmation follow DoPT Master Circular No. 28020/3/2018-Estt.(C) dated 11 March 2019, explained in probation in central government.

Postal Assistant and the CHSL to CGL shift

Postal Assistant and Sorting Assistant, at Level 4 in the Department of Posts, appear in neither the CHSL 2025 notice nor the CHSL 2026 notice. The Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026 notice (F. No. HQ-C11018/1/2026-C-1, uploaded 21 May 2026) lists “Postal Assistant or Sorting Assistant” among its Level 4 posts, beside Senior Secretariat Assistant or Upper Division Clerk and Tax Assistant, so the route to these posts now needs a bachelor’s degree.

The pay of the post did not change with the examination. A Postal Assistant at the Level 4 entry cell earns Rs. 49,850 a month in an X-class city at 60% dearness allowance, identical to a Level 4 CHSL Data Entry Operator. What changed is the qualification gate, and the 12th-standard candidate’s route into Level 4 is now the Data Entry Operator post or promotion from Level 2.

How CHSL compares with CGL

CHSL and CGL overlap only at Level 4 and Level 5. CHSL fills Level 2, Level 4 and Level 5 on a 12th-standard qualification with an 18 to 27 age band; the SSC CGL examination fills 40 posts at Level 4 to Level 8 on a bachelor’s degree, with age bands up to 32. A CGL Level 7 post such as Income Tax Inspector starts at Rs. 44,900, more than double the Level 2 clerk’s Rs. 19,900, and its X-class in-hand of Rs. 83,176 is Rs. 46,670 above the clerk’s.

The two examinations also differ in what decides merit. CHSL’s skill or typing test is qualifying, while CGL sets its own Computer Knowledge and Data Entry Speed Tests on a different scheme. The central government jobs hub sets all the SSC examinations side by side, and MTS salary and stenographer salary cover two other 10th and 12th-standard SSC routes.

SSC CHSL salary and the 8th Pay Commission

The figures on this page are 7th CPC figures and will change when the 8th Central Pay Commission’s recommendations are implemented. The commission was constituted on 3 November 2025 by Resolution F. No. 01-01/2025-E.III(A) under Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, with its report due by 3 May 2027. No fitment factor, revised matrix or effective date has been notified, so no 8th CPC entry pay for Level 2, Level 4 or Level 5 can be stated. The 8th Central Pay Commission article tracks its status.

Related Articles

• SSC CGL salary
• SSC CGL
• Staff Selection Commission
• Central Secretariat Clerical Service
• Central Secretariat Service
• Limited departmental competitive examination
• Recruitment rules
• Reservation in central government jobs
• Department of Posts
• Border Roads Organisation
• MTS salary
• Stenographer salary
• Tax Assistant salary
• Income Tax Inspector salary
• Salary by pay level
• Salary by pay level calculator
• 7th CPC salary calculator
• Pay matrix
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• 8th Central Pay Commission
• Take-home salary of central government employees
• Dearness allowance
• Expected DA
• AICPI-IW
• House rent allowance
• City classification for HRA
• Transport allowance
• CGHS contribution and ward entitlement
• Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme
• Annual increment
• Pay fixation on promotion
• Modified Assured Career Progression
• MACP vs promotion
• Probation in central government
• National Pension System
• Unified Pension Scheme
• Old Pension Scheme
• NPS vs OPS vs UPS
• Gratuity for central government employees
• Leave encashment
• Section 87A rebate
• New tax regime
• Old vs new tax regime
• Minimum pay
• Central government jobs
• Central government employees in India

External references

• Staff Selection Commission
• Department of Personnel and Training
• Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance
• Central Government Health Scheme
• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
• Income Tax Department

References

1. Staff Selection Commission, Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination 2026 notice, F. No. HQ-C1102/5/2026-C-1 (uploaded 7 September 2026), paragraphs 1, 2.1, 4.4, 5, 8, 10, 13.8, 13.9, 15, 16.3, 17 and 18.
2. Staff Selection Commission, Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination 2025 notice, F. No. HQ-C1102/9/2025-C-1 (uploaded 23 June 2025), paragraphs 1, 2.1 and 8.1.
3. Staff Selection Commission, Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026 notice, F. No. HQ-C11018/1/2026-C-1 (uploaded 21 May 2026), Level 4 posts.
4. Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016, G.S.R. 721(E) (25 July 2016), pay matrix and Rules 9 and 10.
5. Department of Expenditure OM No. 1/1(i)/2026-E.II(B) (22 April 2026), dearness allowance at 60% from 1 January 2026.
6. Department of Expenditure OM No. 2/5/2017-E.II(B) (7 July 2017), house rent allowance; OM No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B) (7 July 2017) and its modification of 2 August 2017, transport allowance.
7. Central Secretariat Clerical Service Rules, 1962, Upper Division Grade Select List regulations under rule 11(3), regulation 2(1), as amended by DoPT notification No. 12/3/93-CS.II (22 November 1995).
8. Department of Personnel and Training notification S.O. 3964(E) (9 August 2018), classification of posts; DoPT OM No. 35034/3/2015-Estt.(D) (22 October 2019), MACP guidelines.
9. Income-tax Act, 2025, Sections 19(1), 156 and 202.
10. Ministry of Finance notification No. 5/7/2003-ECB-PR (22 December 2003), National Pension System; Department of Financial Services notification F. No. FX-1/3/2024-PR (24 January 2025), Unified Pension Scheme.