MACP scheme: assured upgradation at 10, 20 and 30 years
The Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) scheme is the framework that gives a central government employee a guaranteed financial upgrade to the next pay level when regular promotions do not come, granted on completing 10, 20 and 30 years of continuous regular service. It provides up to three financial upgradations across a career, and it changes pay only, not designation or duties. The scheme was introduced by the Department of Personnel and Training in Office Memorandum No. 35034/3/2008-Estt.(D) dated 19 May 2009, on the recommendation of the 6th Pay Commission , and it continues under the 7th Pay Commission within the pay matrix .
MACP exists because many cadres in the central government have few promotional posts, so an employee can spend a decade or more in the same grade without a promotion. The scheme guarantees that pay still moves up even where the hierarchy is blocked, by lifting the employee to the next level of the matrix at fixed service milestones. This page sets out what MACP is, the three upgradation points, the eligibility and benchmark conditions, how pay is fixed, and how MACP differs from a regular promotion, with a side-by-side comparison.
From ACP to MACP
MACP replaced the earlier Assured Career Progression (ACP) scheme of August 1999, which gave two financial upgradations, after 12 and 24 years of service, in the promotional hierarchy of the post. The 6th Pay Commission recommended a modified version, and the DoPT order of 19 May 2009 brought in three upgradations at shorter intervals and changed the basis from the promotional hierarchy to the next level in the pay structure. The change from 12 and 24 years to 10, 20 and 30 years, and from the promotional grade to the next pay level, is what the word “Modified” in the name refers to. The scheme took effect from 1 September 2008.
The three upgradation points
An employee becomes eligible for a financial upgradation under MACP on completing 10 years of continuous regular service without a promotion, then again at 20 years and at 30 years. An alternative trigger applies where an employee has stayed in the same pay level for 10 years even after an earlier promotion, in which case the next upgradation is due on that count.
The ceiling is three upgradations in the whole career, counting promotions and MACP upgradations together. If an employee earns a regular promotion before 10 years, the first MACP upgradation point shifts, because the promotion has already moved the pay. The benefit is meant to fill the gap left by missing promotions, not to add to a normal promotional career, so an employee who is promoted three times in service may draw no MACP upgradation at all.
Eligibility and the benchmark
Two conditions govern a MACP upgradation. The first is service: the qualifying period is continuous regular service in the grade, and periods such as deputation count where the rules allow, while breaks and certain leave do not. The second is performance: the employee must meet a benchmark in the Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR). The DoPT set the MACP benchmark at “Good” initially, then raised it to “Very Good” with effect from 25 July 2016, so upgradations considered on or after that date require the higher grading in the relevant appraisal years.
A departmental screening committee considers each case, checks the service and the APAR grading, and recommends the upgradation. Where an employee faces a penalty or a pending disciplinary or vigilance proceeding, the upgradation can be withheld or deferred in the same way a promotion would be, and it is released when the proceeding ends in the employee’s favour.
How pay is fixed under MACP
On grant of a MACP upgradation, pay is fixed by the same method as a regular promotion. The employee is given one increment of about 3 per cent in the existing pay level, and is then placed at the cell in the next higher pay level of the 7th CPC pay matrix that is equal to or next above the figure so arrived at. The upgradation is to the immediate next level in the matrix, read down the level numbers, not to the next post in the promotional line.
Take an employee at Level 6 with a basic pay of Rs 44,900. On a MACP upgradation, one increment in Level 6 takes the figure to about Rs 46,200, and the employee is then placed at the next cell at or above that in Level 7, which is Rs 47,600. From the next 1 July the annual increment moves up the Level 7 column. The employee may also choose to have pay fixed from the date of the next increment rather than the date of upgradation, an option allowed under the fixation rules, and picks whichever date gives the better result. Dearness allowance and House Rent Allowance are then recomputed on the higher basic.
MACP versus promotion
MACP and a regular promotion both raise pay, but they are different things, and the table below sets out where they part.
| Feature | Regular promotion | MACP upgradation |
|---|---|---|
| What it grants | A higher post with new duties | A financial upgrade to the next pay level only |
| Designation | Changes to the higher post | Stays the same |
| Duties and responsibility | Increase with the new post | Unchanged |
| Hierarchy followed | Promotional hierarchy of the cadre | Next level in the pay matrix |
| Trigger | A vacancy and selection or seniority | Completion of 10, 20 or 30 years without promotion |
| How pay is fixed | One increment, then next level cell | One increment, then next level cell (same method) |
| Career ceiling | No fixed cap on number | Three upgradations, counting promotions |
| Benchmark | As prescribed for the post | “Very Good” in the APAR since 25 July 2016 |
The practical effect is that a MACP-upgraded employee draws the pay of a higher level while continuing to hold the same post and do the same work. A promotion, by contrast, carries the higher post itself, and it is why an employee in a cadre with open promotional posts may never need MACP, while an employee in a stagnant cadre relies on it for almost all pay growth after the entry grade.
MACP and the 8th Pay Commission
MACP has run through the 6th and 7th Pay Commissions, so it is likely to continue, but the 8th Pay Commission , constituted on 3 November 2025, has not reported, and any change to the 10, 20 and 30 year intervals, the benchmark or the fixation method is an expectation, not an official figure, until it does. The scheme is one of several service benefits, alongside pay levels , government allowances and the government pension framework, that the commission may revisit. For how a fresh pay revision flows through basic pay, see the 7th versus 8th Pay Commission comparison and the wider guide to the Pay Commission in India .
See also
- 7th Pay Commission
- 7th CPC pay matrix
- Pay level
- Basic pay for government employees
- Pay Commission in India
- 8th Pay Commission
- 7th versus 8th Pay Commission
- Fitment factor
- Dearness allowance
- HRA in the 7th Pay Commission
- Government allowances
- Transport allowance
- Government pension
- National Pension System
- Government employees in India
External references
- Department of Personnel and Training
- Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance
- Press Information Bureau
References
- Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum No. 35034/3/2008-Estt.(D) dated 19 May 2009 (Modified Assured Career Progression scheme), effective 1 September 2008.
- Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum raising the MACP benchmark to “Very Good” with effect from 25 July 2016.
- Report of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, recommendation on the Modified Assured Career Progression scheme.
- Report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission, November 2015, treatment of MACP within the pay matrix.
Last verified: 30 June 2026.