What happens if I don't get an IPO allotment?

When you apply for an IPO through ASBA, either in net banking or with a UPI mandate in your broker’s app, the bid amount is blocked in your bank account, not debited. It stays in your account and keeps earning savings interest, but you cannot spend it until the block is lifted.

If you are not allotted any shares, the block is simply released and the full amount becomes available again. If you are allotted shares, only the amount for those shares is debited and the rest of the block is released. There are no charges for an unsuccessful application.

In a popular issue, missing out is the normal outcome. When the retail portion is oversubscribed, allotment is by lottery of one minimum lot per application, so most applicants receive nothing.

• At 2 times retail subscription, roughly 50% of minimum-lot applicants get no shares.
• At 10 times retail subscription, roughly 90% of minimum-lot applicants get no shares.
• At 50 times retail subscription, roughly 98% of minimum-lot applicants get no shares.

Under SEBI’s T+3 timeline, where T is the day the issue closes, the stages below happen on working days. Unsuccessful applicants should see their funds unblocked by T+2, the same day successful applicants receive shares in their demat accounts.

The days fall like this for a typical week. Exchange holidays push each step back by a day.

1. Check the allotment status on the registrar’s website or the exchange’s status page once allotment is final, using your PAN or application number. Our IPO allotment status page links to the right official page for each issue.
2. Look for a message from your bank or UPI app releasing the mandate. Many banks send an SMS when the block is lifted.
3. Check the bank account itself. The blocked amount should show as available again, with no debit for the IPO.
4. If you were allotted, check your demat account for the credit and your bank statement for the debit of the allotted amount only.

The status page may show one of two outcomes. Not allotted means your application was valid but did not win in the lottery. Rejected means the application was not considered at all. In both cases the block is released on the same timeline, but a rejection is worth understanding so it does not happen again.

• More than one application with the same PAN, including one through a broker and another through net banking.
• A bid below the final price without the cut-off option ticked.
• A PAN, name or demat account that did not match the depository’s records.
• A UPI mandate that was not approved by 5 pm on the closing day, or a bank account without enough balance to block.

A block that is still in place after T+2 usually reflects a delay at the bank or a mandate that was not cleanly revoked. Work through it in this order:

1. Wait until the end of the working day after the expected unblock date. Releases sometimes go through in batches.
2. Contact your bank, which is the self-certified syndicate bank (SCSB) holding the block. Quote the IPO name, application number, amount and date.
3. If you applied through a broker's app with UPI, raise a ticket with the broker as well. They can trace the bid through the exchange's records.
4. If the UPI mandate shows as active in your UPI app, ask your bank whether it can be revoked once the issue's allotment is complete.
5. If the bank or broker does not resolve it, escalate through their grievance channel, and then to SEBI's online complaints system, SCORES.

Not getting shares is not a reflection of your application; it is how the lottery works. If you still want to own the company, you can buy on the exchange after listing, at the market price, which may be above or below the issue price. Decide on the business and the valuation, not on the listing-day move.

Missing out also has a quiet benefit: your money was never at risk on listing day. Before applying again, consider whether you would have been comfortable holding the shares if the listing had gone badly.

For future issues, apply with one valid application per PAN, bid at the cut-off price and approve the mandate early. The IPO tracker shows which issues are open and upcoming.