Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament

MP salaries and allowances are not fixed by the text of the Constitution itself. Instead, Article 106 authorises Parliament to determine, by ordinary law, the salary, allowances, and pension that its own members receive, and to revise these figures from time to time. This arrangement gives the legislature control over its own remuneration while still routing changes through the normal law-making process.

Constitutional Basis: Article 106

Article 106 sits in Part V, Chapter II of the Constitution, under the heading "Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members." It provides that members of either House of Parliament are entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as Parliament may from time to time determine by law. Because the Constitution leaves the actual figures to statute rather than fixing them itself, the amounts can be revised through amending legislation without a constitutional amendment.

The Governing Law and Its Amendment

Parliament has exercised this Article 106 power through legislation on the salary, allowances, and pension of its members, which is periodically amended to revise the quantum of benefits. One recorded instance is the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1991, which both Houses passed in the last days of a sitting. Notably, it was passed without first obtaining the President's recommendation as required under Article 117(1) for financial legislation of this kind, and when it was presented for assent on 18 March 1991, the President withheld assent to it. This episode — recorded in the Rajya Sabha's Parliamentary Bulletin — shows that a bill altering MPs' emoluments is financial in character and cannot bypass the safeguard of prior presidential recommendation, and that the President's veto power can be invoked even against a bill affecting Parliament's own members.

A Daily Allowance Component

Alongside a fixed salary, Members of Parliament are also entitled to a daily allowance. This is evident from the parallel provision for the Chairman of the Council of States (the Vice-President in that capacity), who is entitled to a daily allowance "as admissible to Members of Parliament" — confirming that a distinct daily-allowance component, separate from the basic salary, applies to ordinary MPs as well.

Comparison with Article 97: Salaries of the Presiding Officers

Article 106 covers ordinary members, but a separate provision, Article 97, fixes the salaries and allowances of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. These are governed by dedicated legislation on the salaries and allowances of officers of Parliament, which Parliament has amended periodically to raise the figures. For instance, the salary of the Chairman of the Council of States was raised to Rs. 40,000 per month with effect from 1 January 1996 by an amendment Act of 1998; further raised to Rs. 1,25,000 per month with effect from 1 January 2006 by a 2008 amendment; and later raised to Rs. 4,00,000 per month with effect from 1 January 2016 through the Finance Act, 2018. This history illustrates the general pattern by which Parliament revises legislative remuneration through periodic amending statutes rather than a fixed constitutional figure.

Parallel Provision for State Legislatures: Article 195

Article 106 has a direct counterpart for the states. Article 195 empowers the members of a State Legislature to receive such salaries and allowances as the Legislature of the State may from time to time determine by law. The structure mirrors the Union provision: the Constitution grants the power, and the concerned legislature exercises it through ordinary legislation.

Significance

By leaving the determination of members' salaries to Parliament itself rather than to the Executive, Article 106 preserves a degree of legislative self-governance over its own remuneration. At the same time, because such legislation touches the Consolidated Fund and qualifies as financial business, it remains subject to the constitutional safeguards on financial bills, including the President's role under Article 117. The 1991 episode shows this is not a mere formality — the President can and did withhold assent when the constitutional procedure for financial bills was not followed.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims: Article 106 (salaries and allowances of MPs) falls under the "Powers, Privileges and Immunities" heading in Part V, Chapter II; Article 195 is its exact State Legislature parallel; Article 97 separately covers the presiding officers' salaries — a common source of option-mixing in questions.

Mains: Useful for questions on parliamentary privileges, the financial-bill procedure under Article 117, and the balance between legislative self-governance and executive/presidential checks on financial legislation.

FAQ

Does the Constitution itself fix MPs' salaries? No. Article 106 only empowers Parliament to determine the salary, allowances, and pension of its members by ordinary law; the actual figures are set by statute, not the constitutional text.

Is a bill revising MPs' salaries treated as an ordinary bill? Such bills are financial in nature. The 1991 Amendment Bill episode shows that passing such a bill without the President's prior recommendation under Article 117(1) can result in the President withholding assent.

Which Article governs the salaries of the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman? Article 97, not Article 106. Article 106 applies to ordinary members; Article 97 is a separate provision for the presiding officers, governed by dedicated legislation on officers' salaries that has been amended several times (1998, 2008, and via the Finance Act, 2018).

Do MPs get anything besides a basic salary? Yes — a daily allowance is payable in addition to the salary, as indicated by the parallel entitlement given to the Rajya Sabha Chairman "as admissible to Members of Parliament."

Is there an equivalent provision for state legislators? Yes. Article 195 gives State Legislatures the identical power to fix the salaries and allowances of their own members by law.

Quick Revision

• Article 106 — Parliament fixes MPs' salaries, allowances, and pension by law.
• Article 195 — identical power for State Legislature members.
• Article 97 — separate provision for the Speaker/Deputy Speaker and Chairman/Deputy Chairman.
• 1991 Amendment Bill — passed without Art 117(1) presidential recommendation; assent withheld.
• MPs also receive a daily allowance in addition to salary.
• Rajya Sabha Chairman's salary was raised via amendments in 1998, 2008, and the Finance Act, 2018.

Sources

• Constitution of India, Articles 97, 106, 117, 195 — legislative.gov.in
• Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Bulletin, Part I, dated 9 March 1992 (Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1991)

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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