The Central Pay Commission is a committee constituted by the Government of India decennially, responsible for tabling recommendations regarding changes in the salary structure of federal employees, both civilian and defence. Established in 1946, seven pay commissions have been set up each decade since India's independence to review and provide recommendations on the work and pay structure of all the civil and military divisions comprising the Government of India. Headquartered in New Delhi, the commission is tasked with making its recommendations within 18 months from the date of its constitution. In January 2025, the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission received approval from the Union Cabinet.

The first pay commission, established in January 1946, submitted its report in May 1947 to the Interim Government of India. It was under the chairmanship of Srinivasa Varadachariar and comprised nine members. The mandate of the First Pay Commission was to examine and recommend emolument structure of the government's civilian employees.

The emoluments structure of the Indian Armed Forces was determined not by the First Central Pay Commission but by a Departmental Committee consisting of service members. The task of this committee was to make recommendations "in the structure of emoluments and benefits of service personnel in the light of the recommendations made by the pay commission for civilian employees". The First Pay Committee, set up after the First Pay Commission, was called The Post War Pay Committee for the Armed Forces. The New Pay Code—effective from 1 July 1947—was based on the recommendations of this committee. The pensionary benefits were examined by a separate committee called the Armed Forces Pension Revision Committee (1949–50).

The Second Pay Commission was set up in August 1957, 10 years after India's independence; it furnished its report after two years. The recommendations of the Second Pay Commission had a financial impact of ₹39.6 crores. The chairman of the Second Pay Commission was Jagannath Das.

The Departmental Pay Committee, set up after the Second Pay Commission, was called, the Raghuramiah Committee (1960), which had representation from the armed forces too. It examined the emoluments of the armed forces and provided the necessary recommendations.

The Third Pay Commission was constituted in April 1970 and presented its findings in March 1973. The Commission was chaired by Raghubar Dayal, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India, with Niharranjan Ray, A.K. Das Gupta, and V.R. Pillai as its members.

Constituted in June 1983, its report was presented in three phases within four years and the financial burden to the government totalled ₹1282 crore. The chairman of the Fourth Pay Commission was P.N. Singhal, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.

The Congress (I) government, led by Rajiv Gandhi, introduced the concept of Rank Pay for armed forces officers following the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission. The Rank Pay, which ranged from ₹200 to ₹1,200, applied to officers from the rank of Second Lieutenant to Brigadier in the Indian Army, and equivalent ranks in the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. Unlike an additional allowance, the Rank Pay was deducted from the officer's pay grade. This adjustment disrupted the established pay parity between military and police services. Police officers and officers from other All India Services with 14 years of service, who were previously in the same pay grade as Majors, were reclassified to Brigadier-equivalent grades under the new pay structure.