Central government employees who did not perform well will not be handed out the 7th Pay Commission's recommended 23.6% hike in salaries. In a notification sent out by the Finance Ministry regarding the implementation of the committee's recommendations, it said the suggestion of "withholding of annual increments" from employees who did not meet the enhanced benchmark of "very good" under the Modified Assured Career Progression scheme had been accepted.

The ministry also accepted the recommendation that employees will not be eligible for an appraisal if they failed to get even a regular promotion "within the first 20 years of their service", according to the notification, PTI reported. "This commission believes that employees who do not meet the laid down performance criterion should not be allowed to earn future annual increments," the pay panel had recommended, adding that the move would serve as "a deterrent for complacent and inefficient employees".

Nearly one crore government employees, including pensioners, will get increased salaries based on the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations from August, the Finance Ministry's notice said. The new pay structure will be effective from January 2016, and the arrears will be paid during this financial year – 2016-'17.

The panel, whose recommendations approved by the Cabinet in June, had proposed a minimum monthly basic salary of Rs 18,000 and a maximum of Rs 2,50,000. With these hikes, the Centre’s total expenditure on salaries and pensions is expected to jump by Rs 1.02 lakh crore.