IPO allotment process
Who decides whether you get shares, how the retail lottery works, and what the timeline looks like from the day you apply to the day your money is released.
Allotment is handled by the registrar and transfer agent (RTA) appointed for the issue — typically KFin Technologies, MUFG Intime (formerly Link Intime) or Bigshare Services. The registrar consolidates every valid bid from the exchanges, applies SEBI's allotment rules category by category, and publishes the basis of allotment.
Step 1 — Your money is blocked, not debited
When you apply through a broker app you approve a UPI mandate; when you apply through net banking you use ASBA (Application Supported by Blocked Amount). Either way the application amount stays in your bank account but becomes unavailable. Interest continues to accrue in a savings account. If you do not approve the mandate before the cut-off time, your bid is invalid even though it may appear in your order book.
Step 2 — Bids are validated
Applications are commonly rejected for these reasons:
- More than one application on the same PAN.
- PAN and demat details that do not match the depository records.
- Insufficient balance when the bank tries to block the amount.
- UPI mandate not approved or approved after the deadline.
- Bid below the cut-off price in a book-built issue.
Step 3 — The retail lottery
SEBI requires that every retail applicant be considered for a minimum of one lot. If the retail portion is subscribed less than once, everyone gets the full quantity they bid for. If it is oversubscribed, the shares reserved for retail are divided by the minimum lot size to get the number of lots available, and the registrar runs a computerised, randomised draw among all valid applications. Each application has the same chance regardless of how many lots it bid for — which is why applying for extra lots does not improve your odds in a heavily oversubscribed issue.
Roughly, your chance per application is 1 ÷ retail subscription multiple. At 15× retail subscription that is about one in fifteen. With N applications from N different PANs, the probability of getting at least one lot is 1 − (1 − p)^N. Our allotment odds calculator works this out for you.
Step 4 — HNI and QIB allotment
The non-institutional categories are allotted proportionately: bid a larger amount and you receive a proportionally larger share, subject to a minimum lot. Since 2022 the NII portion is split — one-third for applications between ₹2 lakh and ₹10 lakh and two-thirds above ₹10 lakh — and a draw is used within each bucket when the proportionate entitlement falls below one lot. QIB allotment is discretionary for anchor investors and proportionate for the rest.
Step 5 — Credits, refunds and listing
- T+1 to T+2 after the issue closes: basis of allotment finalised, registrar portals go live.
- Same day or next: unblocked amounts are released for unsuccessful or partially successful applications. This is not a refund — the block simply lapses.
- Before listing: allotted shares are credited to your demat account.
- T+3: listing and trading begins after a special pre-open session.
How to check your allotment
You can check on the registrar's own website, on the BSE issue-status page, or in your demat account once shares are credited. Our allotment checker queries the registrar for you and can test several PANs at once, so you do not have to re-enter details on three different portals.
Improving your realistic chances
- Apply from separate PANs that genuinely belong to different family members, each with their own demat account.
- Apply at cut-off price so your bid stays valid at the final price.
- Apply on day one or two — last-day UPI mandate failures are common.
- Keep the full amount available in the linked bank account until allotment day.
- Do not bid for extra lots hoping for a better draw; it only blocks more capital.