The long-awaited implementation of the Ninth National Pay Scale for government employees is moving forward. A draft of the gazette notification outlining the new salary structure has already been sent to the Ministry of Law for legal vetting. Once the vetting process is completed, steps will be taken to publish the gazette.
Following this, seven separate Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) will be issued to establish detailed implementation rules for employees of different categories and institutions under the new pay structure.
Digital system to determine salaries
Special emphasis is being placed on digital salary management for implementing the new pay scale. Once government employees’ information is updated on the government’s financial management platform, iBAS++, the software will automatically calculate their salaries under the new structure.
As a result, the grade and basic salary applicable to each government employee will be determined and verified online.
The main provisions of the new pay structure will come into effect through the gazette notification. However, because different institutions and services have distinct organizational structures, detailed implementation provisions will be laid out in seven separate SROs.
The seven SROs will cover:
- Civil administration
- Police
- Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB)
- Government banks and financial institutions
- Autonomous and state-owned organizations
- Armed forces
- Judiciary
These SROs will provide detailed instructions on how salaries, allowances and other financial benefits will be implemented for employees in the respective sectors.
Information to be updated in iBAS++
A major change under the Ninth Pay Scale will be the introduction of a more digital and automated salary-fixation process. The employment-related information of every government employee will have to be updated in iBAS++.
This will include details such as the employee’s position, grade, date of joining, annual increments, promotions and higher-grade status.
After the information is verified, the software will automatically calculate the employee’s basic salary and applicable allowances according to the new pay scale.
This will reduce the need for repeated salary recalculations based on paper documents. At the same time, employees will be able to check their position in the new salary structure and their entitlements online.
Fewer calculation errors and lower risk of overpayments
Under the new system, salary fixation will shift from a paper-based process to a data-driven and automated system.
This is expected to reduce the need for employees to visit accounting offices for salary recalculation. It is also expected to minimize calculation errors, prevent employees from receiving the same benefit more than once, and reduce the risk of excess payments.
Even after the new pay scale comes into effect, existing systems for processing salary bills, General Provident Fund (GPF), government loans, income-tax calculations, and salary and pension payments through Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) will continue under iBAS++.
Existing 20 grades retained
The new National Pay Scale will retain the existing 20 grades.
Under the proposed structure, the minimum basic salary for Grade 20 will be Tk 20,000, while the maximum basic salary for Grade 1 will be Tk 156,000.
The new pay structure will be deemed effective from July 1, 2026. However, its formal implementation will begin only after the gazette notification and the relevant SROs are issued.
Officials concerned at the Finance Division said administrative and technical preparations are underway to ensure that the new pay scale can be implemented quickly after the gazette is published.
Work on preparing separate SROs is also progressing, taking into account the structural differences among various categories of government employees.
