8th Pay Commission: Portal Glitch Sparks Union Outrage, Deadline Extension Sought

8th Pay Commission: Central government employee unions, including the NC-JCM and AIDEF, are facing technical difficulties submitting their memorandums to the 8th Pay Commission. As a result, these organisations have demanded an extension of the submission deadline from April 30, 2026, to May 31, 2026. However, the 8th Pay Commission has stated that it will stick to the April 30 deadline for now.

The April 30, 2026, deadline for submitting memorandums to the 8th Pay Commission is fast approaching. However, many central employee unions are reporting problems uploading their documents to the official portal. The National Council (Staff Side), Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) has written to the Commission about this, requesting an immediate fix for the portal's technical issues.

The NC-JCM has requested an extension for memorandum submission until May 31, 2026, as many organisations have found it difficult to submit their documents on time due to the glitches.

Pankaj Jain, the Member Secretary of NC-JCM, informed the 8th Pay Commission that the organisation is constantly facing technical problems while trying to upload the memorandum. The letter stated, "For the last nine days, we have been trying to upload the memorandum prepared by the staff of the National Council (JCM) on the 8th Pay Commission's portal."

The letter continued, "But, the portal is not accepting our content, even though each answer is less than 10,000 characters." The NC-JCM also mentioned that they have received similar complaints from other organisations and individuals across the country. They have been forced to send their memorandums via email to the Member Secretary and the Director.

The NC-JCM has put forward the following demands to the 8th Pay Commission:
1. The portal's technical issues must be resolved immediately.
2. The portal should be made more user-friendly.
3. A step-by-step guide (SOP) for the memorandum submission process should be issued.

The NC-JCM explained that due to technical problems, it has become extremely difficult for central employee organisations, pensioner associations, and individuals to upload their memorandums on time. Therefore, the organisation has proposed that memorandums be accepted via email in PDF and MS Word formats, and the deadline be extended from April 30, 2026, to May 31, 2026.

However, the 8th Pay Commission has made it clear on its official website that the deadline for submitting memorandums remains April 30, 2026. A message posted on the website states, “The last date for submitting the memorandum is April 30, 2026. However, unions/organisations that wish to meet the Commission in Pune or New Delhi must submit their memorandum by April 20, 2026.”

C. Srikumar, the Secretary of the All India Defence Employees' Federation (AIDEF), has also written to the 8th Pay Commission, complaining about the website's technical problems. AIDEF has also demanded that the deadline for submitting memorandums be extended to May 31, 2026.

The 49th meeting of the National Council (JCM) will be held on Monday, May 11, 2026, at 3 PM in the Conference Hall of the Cabinet Secretariat in New Delhi. The Cabinet Secretary will chair the meeting, which will discuss the issues proposed by the Staff Side.