Under the new National Pay Scale 2026, government employees at every grade will receive a mobile allowance. Until now, only officials at certain levels received this benefit. At the same time, a decision has been made to raise pensions at a comparatively higher rate for retirees currently receiving lower pensions. Under this, the net pension of those receiving the lowest pensions could rise by up to 100 percent.
However, not all the benefits of the new pay structure will take effect at once. Considering the government’s fiscal capacity and inflationary pressure, basic salary is planned to be implemented in three phases. Various allowances are planned to take effect together from January 1, 2028. Pensions will also be raised in phases.
The details emerged after the cabinet approved the National Pay Scale 2026 at a meeting at the Secretariat Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Tareque Rahman.
The new pay structure for government officials and employees is set to take effect nearly 11 years after the last one. The new scale is deemed to take effect from July 1, 2026, but will be rolled out in phases.
Mobile allowance for everyone
One notable change in the new pay structure is the expanded scope of the mobile allowance. Under the new national pay scale, government employees at every grade, from 1st to 20th, will receive this allowance.
Until now, only employees up to grade 5 received the mobile allowance. With email, online meetings, digital file management and various app-based work increasing at government offices, employees at nearly every level have had to use their personal mobile phones and internet. The allowance’s scope has been expanded in light of this reality.
Lower pensions to rise more
The new pay structure also brings changes for existing pensioners. The election pledge of “one grade, one pension,” or one-rank-one-pension (OROP), is not being fully implemented right away. Due to a lack of necessary data and the large sums of money required, a decision has been made to implement it in phases by 2030.
In the meantime, a new formula for raising pensions has been approved as an interim measure. Under it, those receiving lower pensions will benefit at a higher rate.
Under the new decision:
Net pension of 9,000 taka or less will rise by 100 percent.
Net pension of 9,001 to 20,000 taka will rise by 75 percent.
Net pension of 20,001 to 30,000 taka will rise by 65 percent.
Net pension of 30,001 to 40,000 taka will rise by 60 percent.
Net pension of 40,001 taka or more will rise by 55 percent.
As a result, those who retired long ago and are currently receiving comparatively lower pensions will benefit the most from this decision.
Basic pay to rise in three phases
The National Pay Scale 2026 retains the existing 20 grades in government service. The starting basic salary for grade 20 has been set at 20,000 taka. The set salary for grade 1 will be 156,000 taka.
By the government’s calculations, under the new structure the basic salary for the lowest grade will rise by 142 percent, and the set salary for the highest grade will rise by 100 percent.
However, the full pay increase will not take effect all at once. Basic salary is planned to be implemented in three phases between July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027. Various allowances are planned to take effect together from January 1, 2028.
In implementation, priority will be given to lower-income employees in grades 10 through 20.
The government’s phased implementation plan is driven largely by the pressure of spending a large sum of money at once and concerns over inflation.
3,000 taka a month for children with disabilities
For the first time, the new pay scale introduces a monthly allowance for government employees’ children with special needs or disabilities.
A government employee will receive 3,000 taka a month for each child with special needs. The decision takes into account the extra care such children require and the additional expenses this places on families.
Roughly 3.3 million people to benefit
The new pay scale’s implementation will benefit roughly 2.4 million military and civilian employees, along with more than 900,000 retired employees and other eligible beneficiaries.
In total, roughly 3.3 million people will benefit from the new arrangement.
This will cost the government an estimated additional 105,580 crore taka a year. Provisions for this expense are planned to be included in the budgets of the relevant fiscal years.