JAIIB and CAIIB Increments and PQP: What They Add to Your Pay

What the officers’ settlement says

The circular also covers the awkward cases. An officer who completes JAIIB after reaching the top of the scale gets the first PQP instalment from the date of passing. Where an officer qualifies at or near the top of the scale and no increment is left to give, the stagnation increment may be advanced by one or two years. Officers already in service on 1 November 2022 who had already passed CAIIB get the second additional increment from 1 November 2022 or the date of passing, whichever is later. Officers already drawing PQP-II become eligible for PQP-III one year after PQP-II was released, or from 1 November 2022, whichever is later.

These rules come from SBI’s circular. Other banks that are party to the IBA settlement issue their own circulars on the same joint note, so check your own bank’s circular for its wording and dates.

Officer scales and what an increment is worth

How to read a scale: 48480-2000/7-62480 means the scale starts at Rs 48,480 and rises by Rs 2,000 a year for seven years, to Rs 62,480. The next step size then applies. An increment is simply one more step on your scale, so its value depends on where you stand. For a Scale I officer in the first seven steps, JAIIB is worth Rs 2,000 a month in basic pay and CAIIB’s two increments are worth Rs 4,000. Near the top of Scale I, where each step is Rs 2,680, the same qualifications are worth more.

Worked examples, Scale I (our arithmetic)

These are basic-pay figures only. For officers, SBI’s circular sets Special Allowance as a percentage of basic pay (26.50% in Scale I), while House Rent Allowance and Dearness Allowance are worked out on wider definitions of “Pay” that include basic pay. So a higher basic also raises those allowances and the take-home rise is larger. They depend on the current DA rate and your posting, so we do not calculate them here. The qualification moves you ahead on the scale while you and a colleague without it sit at different stages; the gap can change where the step size changes and can close at the top of the scale, where stagnation-increment and PQP rules take over.

Officer PQP: after the scale runs out

SBI’s circular defines “Pay” three ways, and PQP is in all three: for superannuation benefits (with basic pay, stagnation increments, officiating pay and the increment part of Fixed Personal Pay); for Dearness Allowance (with basic pay, stagnation increments, Special Allowance, Learning Allowance and officiating pay); and for House Rent Allowance (with basic pay, stagnation increments and officiating pay). So PQP raises DA and HRA. Special Allowance itself is a percentage of basic pay only, so PQP does not raise it.

Clerical and subordinate staff: the 12th Bipartite Settlement

The award-staff settlement sets the clerical scale as 24050-1340/3-28070-1650/3-33020-2000/4-41020-2340/7-57400-4400/1-61800-2680/1-64480, which is 20 stages from Rs 24,050 to Rs 64,480. Clause 10 deals with qualifications. A non-subordinate employee who acquires JAIIB or CAIIB without enough increments left in the scale first gets the increments that are available. The first PQP instalment is paid in place of the rest.

What the settlement text does not do is print how many advance increments JAIIB or CAIIB earns a clerk. It refers back to earlier settlements. We did not find that number in a primary document, so we do not state one. Ask your branch or HR for your bank’s circular. The calculator above, set to clerical staff, shows what each of your next stage steps is worth, so you can apply your bank’s count.

SBI is outside this table. Clause 40 of the settlement lists Clause 10 (PQP/Graduation Pay) among the provisions that do not apply to State Bank of India and are settled at bank level. SBI’s workmen circular of 15.07.2024 (Annexure III, w.e.f. 01.11.2022) sets its own rates: Rs 940 after one year, Rs 1,880 after two, Rs 2,820 after three, and Rs 3,760 and Rs 4,700 after four and five years in its longest row. If you are an SBI clerk, use those figures, not the table above.

Rows 4 and 5 of the non-subordinate table on page 67 carry the same printed description, but row 5 runs to Rs 4,100 after five years while row 4 stops at Rs 2,460. SBI’s circular prints its matching rows differently: the three-year row reads “passed JAIIB or Part-I CAIIB” and the five-year row “passed JAIIB or both parts of CAIIB”. That suggests row 5 is the CAIIB row, but the settlement copy we read does not say so, and we print it as it stands. “After N years” means after N years at the 20th stage, the top of the scale.

Is it worth it? A simple way to think about it

JAIIB costs Rs 4,000 for the first attempt and CAIIB Rs 5,000, plus convenience charges and taxes, and Rs 1,300 for each later attempt. For a Scale I officer near the start of the scale, JAIIB adds Rs 2,000 a month to basic pay, so the first-attempt fee is covered by basic pay alone in about two months (our arithmetic, before tax, DA and HRA). CAIIB’s two increments add Rs 4,000 a month at the same stage.

The real cost is time, not the fee. IIBF’s pass rates were 15.63% for JAIIB and 14.03% for CAIIB in 2025-26, measured on candidates who appeared; IIBF does not publish how many sittings each successful candidate needed. The pay gain starts only once the whole exam is complete, not paper by paper, so a plan that finishes in two or three sittings earns the increments a year or more sooner than one that drifts to the end of the three-year window.

How many increments do officers get for CAIIB?

Two, with effect from 1 November 2022, plus one for JAIIB. Before that it was one for each. Source: SBI e-circular of 18.06.2024 on the 9th Joint Note.

How much does the JAIIB increment add to pay?

One step of your pay scale. For a Scale I officer in the first seven stages that is Rs 2,000 a month in basic pay; higher up the scale the step is Rs 2,340 or Rs 2,680. DA and HRA are added on top.

What is PQP for JAIIB and CAIIB officers?

Professional Qualification Pay, paid after the top of the scale. JAIIB only: Rs 1,370 a month one year after reaching the top. CAIIB: Rs 1,370, then Rs 3,425 and Rs 5,480 a month after one, two and three years.

How many increments do clerks get for JAIIB?

The 12th Bipartite Settlement text does not print the number. It sets the PQP amounts and says that qualification increments are given as far as the scale allows, with PQP for the rest. Check your bank’s circular.

What PQP do clerks get for JAIIB and CAIIB?

Under the 12th Bipartite Settlement, for non-subordinate staff at the 20th stage with JAIIB and CAIIB: Rs 820, 1,640 and 2,460 a month after one, two and three years. JAIIB alone: Rs 820 after one year. SBI settles PQP at bank level: its circular of 15.07.2024 gives Rs 940, 1,880 and 2,820 for the same steps.

Do these rules apply in every bank?

They apply in the banks that gave IBA a mandate for the settlements. The 12th Bipartite Settlement names 25 banks, and each bank implements it through its own circular. Some clauses, including PQP for award staff, do not apply to SBI and are settled at bank level (Clause 40).