Changelog

August 26, 2026 — Pay Fixation DNI, MACP progression order, and copy-versus-math alignment

A 20-specialist audit with runtime verification surfaced two calculation defects in the India suite, several stale passages that predated the corrections below them, and a batch of interface bugs. Everything listed here is fixed; the shared logic was already test-covered, and new tests now pin the matrix ordering behind it.

Pay Fixation: Option B (DNI) no longer mirrors Option A

• Previous behaviour: both options displayed the same promoted-level cell — Option B showed one-increment fixation instead of reckoning the increments accrued by your date of next increment.
• Corrected behaviour: the page now computes through the tested shared fixation module, so Option B fixes at the cell matching feeder pay plus accrued increments (the worked example's ₹50,500 case). The twelve-month comparison and winner ring use the same figures.

MACP: upgradation targets follow the Pay Matrix progression order

• Previous behaviour: from Level 13 or Level 13A alike, the next target rendered as Level 14 — Level 13A could never appear as an upgradation target because levels were matched by their numeric column, which collides at 13/13A.
• Corrected behaviour: targets follow matrix order, so Level 13 → 13A → Level 14. A regression test locks that ordering into the data module.

Stale Transport Allowance passages corrected inside the 7th CPC Salary Calculator

• The guide example and FAQ still taught DA-on-TA (₹11,520 / ₹5,760 cases) — the exact figures the August 24 entry below documents as removed. They now state flat rates per OM No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B): Level 9+ draws ₹7,200, so the Level-10 Y-class example gross reads ≈ ₹1,08,180.

Worked examples realigned to current rates

• Income Tax Calculator example recomputed at DA 60 percent (gross ₹9,91,440; NPS base includes DA) — the old passage assembled at 58 percent and quoted an NPS figure excluding DA.
• Increment Calculator example: a 10 February 2024 joiner's first increment falls on 1 January 2025 under the six-month rule, not 1 July 2025; the guide summary now explains that missing a cut-off moves the increment to the next common date.
• An increment FAQ answer described "TA-on-DA" — inverted, and true only for the narrow Levels 1–2 band. Reworded to match the TA rules.

Interface fixes across tools

• The sticky result chip reappears on the five PayTools calculators and the Tax Calculator after scrolling past results (its anchor selector missed those pages' markup).
• Reordering rows in the Subscription Cost Tracker no longer stacks duplicate preference listeners — currency switches recalculate exactly once.
• Primary result figures are announced to screen readers again (a stray aria-hidden hid the headline value), via a polite live region.
• Shift inputs on the Time Card Calculator and region selects render at 16px so iOS Safari no longer force-zooms the page when they take focus.
• Salary-example period figures no longer overflow their grid cells on 320–390px screens.
• Checkboxes and radios on India tools pick up the theme accent color again — they referenced a variable name that does not exist and fell back to browser blue.
• Provenance chips ("Official", "Most popular", Option cards) are styled pills now; the class existed only in markup.
• Pay Fixation winner highlighting uses theme tokens instead of hardcoded green, and its monthly pay walk can no longer drift across month lengths.
• Analytics consent commands now declare all four Consent Mode v2 signals, visitors in the EEA/UK/Switzerland default to fully denied until they choose, and accepting analytics immediately lifts non-personalized ad serving instead of waiting for the next pageview.

August 25, 2026 — MACP scheduling, Level 13A allowance band, and site cleanup

A second full-site audit surfaced one broken scheduler, one mis-banded allowance, several copy-versus-math mismatches, and some interaction bugs. Everything below is fixed and covered by tests where the logic lives in shared modules.

MACP upgradation schedule no longer collapses onto one date

• Previous behaviour: all three financial upgradations showed the same date — ten years after joining — regardless of service history, and entering a promotion date changed nothing.
• Corrected behaviour: upgrades now land at 10, 20 and 30 years from the cycle start, and a promotion falling inside an active cycle restarts the MACP clock from the promotion date, exactly as the page's stated formula describes.
• Affected tool: MACP Calculator. Displayed upgrade dates now also render timezone-safe for visitors outside India.

Level 13A draws the correct Transport Allowance band

• Previous behaviour: the Level 13A id failed a numeric comparison inside the TA lookup, so 13A officers received the Level 3–8 band (₹3,600/₹1,800) instead of the Level 9+ band (₹7,200/₹3,600) — understating gross by up to ₹3,600 a month.
• Corrected behaviour: level ids are parsed numerically before banding. Affects the 7th CPC Salary Calculator, TA Calculator and Income Tax Calculator; gross figures rise slightly for 13A users.

TPTA zone separated from HRA city class in the Income Tax Calculator

• Previous behaviour: Transport Allowance assumed "higher TPTA city" only when the HRA city class was X — but many Y-class cities (Lucknow, Jaipur, Patna and others) also draw the higher TPTA band, so those employees were understated by ₹1,800–₹2,400 a month of TA.
• Corrected behaviour: a dedicated TPTA Zone selector now feeds the gross-salary assembly, matching how the 7th CPC Salary Calculator already works.

Figure alignment and example corrections

• The 8th CPC parity projection on the homepage and the 8th CPC Calculator now consistently show ₹1,44,180 (56,100 × 2.57 rounded to ₹10), replacing the mismatched ₹1,44,200 static text; the homepage figure no longer ticks downward on load.
• The Pay Fixation worked example now quotes the values the tool actually computes: Option A fixes at ₹49,000, Option B at ₹50,500.
• The side-hustle tax breakdown shows the mileage deduction capped at earnings, so the deduction, taxable income and savings rows can no longer contradict each other.
• HRA floor messaging now reflects the rounded figure actually displayed.

Site behaviour

• Language selection removed. The interface translation feature never left beta reliably (dictionary loading was broken), so the language picker is gone along with its translation files. Country and currency preferences are unaffected; English remains the interface language while guides stay authoritative.
• Analytics now runs by default instead of waiting for a banner choice; Decline under "Analytics settings" in the footer still turns it off, and declining now also requests non-personalized ads immediately. The privacy policy's advertising wording was updated to match actual behaviour.
• Dark mode follows your operating system preference until you pick a theme explicitly; header popovers can be closed by clicking their own icon again or pressing Escape (focus returns); rapid hamburger toggling can no longer hide an open menu; Ctrl/Cmd/number shortcuts no longer hijack browser tab switching.

August 24, 2026 — India pay tools: correctness pass

An internal audit of the India CPC suite found five figures that did not match the notified rules. All are fixed as described below, with regression tests added so they cannot silently return. We would rather publish this list than pretend it never happened.

Transport Allowance no longer overpays DA

• Previous behaviour: DA was added on top of Transport Allowance at every pay level — a Level 10 officer in a Higher TPTA city showed ₹11,520 instead of the correct flat ₹7,200.
• Corrected behaviour: per OM No. 21/5/2017-E.II(B) dated 07.07.2017, DA rides on TA only for Levels 1–2 drawing the ₹1,350/₹900 band (lost once basic pay crosses ₹24,200) and on the Level 14+ car-option rate. All other levels draw flat rates.
• Affected tools: TA Calculator, 7th CPC Salary Calculator (TA line), and gross-pay assembly in the Income Tax Calculator. The corrected amounts reduce gross slightly where TA applies — taxable income estimates shift accordingly.

Super-senior income tax slabs fixed

• Previous behaviour: taxpayers aged 80+ under the old regime could see tax computed against a malformed slab table — in the worst case, income above ₹5 lakh escaped taxation entirely.
• Corrected behaviour: explicit slab tables — nil to ₹5 lakh, 20% from ₹5 to ₹10 lakh, 30% above — matching the Finance Act rates for resident super-seniors.

New regime no longer deducts employee NPS

• Previous behaviour: the employee's own NPS contribution (10% of basic + DA) reduced taxable income in both regimes, understating new-regime tax.
• Corrected behaviour: the deduction applies in the old regime only (section 80CCD(1)). The new regime allows no deduction for your own contribution; only an employer's 80CCD(2) share would be admissible, which remains outside these inputs. New-regime tax estimates rise slightly for most employees — they were too low before.

Surcharge marginal relief added

• Previous behaviour: crossing ₹50 lakh, ₹1 crore or ₹2 crore of taxable income produced an unrealistic cliff — roughly ₹11,000 overstated just above ₹50 lakh.
• Corrected behaviour: marginal relief now caps tax plus surcharge near every threshold (including the old regime's ₹5 crore band), exactly as the Finance Act provides.

Annual increment dates respect both common dates

• Previous behaviour: the Increment Calculator projected only 1 July dates regardless of joining window, and its cell preview covered just three levels.
• Corrected behaviour: joining on or before 1 January earns that year's 1 July increment; joining by 1 July earns a 1 January increment (six-month qualifying service at each cut-off). Subsequent dues repeat annually on the earned cycle. The full official matrix now backs cell previews for all levels.

Ongoing verification

The 7th CPC pay matrix shipped here is transcribed from the CCS (RP) Rules First Schedule and locked by automated tests covering level boundaries, spot values, monotonicity and growth bounds. DA instalments follow Department of Expenditure orders with order numbers and dates recorded in the tool. If you believe any figure on this site contradicts its source, please write via the contact page — confirmed errors get corrected and listed here.