How to Apply for an IPO via UPI and Check Allotment (2026 Guide)
Last updated: 13 October 2026
Quick answer: To apply for an IPO via UPI, bid through your broker app or bank (ASBA), enter your own UPI ID, and approve the block mandate in your UPI app before 5 pm on the closing day. Retail investors can bid up to ₹2 lakh. Allotment is finalised on T+1, money is unblocked and shares credited on T+2, and listing happens on T+3. Check allotment on the registrar, BSE or NSE website.
Last updated: 13 October 2026 Quick answer: To apply for an IPO via UPI, bid through your broker app or bank (ASBA), enter your own UPI ID, and approve the block mandate in your UPI app before 5 pm on the closing day. Retail investors can bid up to ₹2 lakh. Allotment is finalised on T+1, money is unblocked and shares credited on T+2, and listing happens on T+3. Check allotment on the registrar, BSE or NSE website. Key takeaways ASBA: your money is blocked, not debited, until allotment. UPI limit: individuals use UPI for bids up to ₹5 lakh (since May 2022). Deadline: UPI mandates must be accepted by 5 pm on closing day (T). Retail category: bids up to ₹2 lakh; lottery gives one lot to as many applicants as possible. Speed: T+3 listing has been mandatory since 1 December 2023. This week alone, six mainboard IPOs are seeking about ₹10,288 crore, and many first-time applicants will discover the same thing: the bid was placed, but the UPI request expired unseen, or the application was rejected for a PAN mismatch. Most failed IPO applications fail on process, not luck. This guide explains how to apply for an IPO via UPI and ASBA, which category you fall in, what happens each day from closing to listing, how the retail lottery really works, and how to check IPO allotment status. For current issues, see our tracker of upcoming IPOs this week (/insights/upcoming-ipos-this-week) . What is ASBA, and why does UPI matter? ASBA (Application Supported by Blocked Amount) is the system in which your bid amount is blocked in your own bank account instead of being paid to the company. The money keeps earning savings interest. If you get shares, only the allotted amount is debited; the rest is released. ASBA has been compulsory for all public issue applications since January 2016. UPI is simply the fastest way to create that block. SEBI's circular of 5 April 2022 requires all individual investors applying for up to ₹5 lakh through a broker, depository participant or registrar to use UPI, for issues opening from 1 May 2022. Above ₹5 lakh, you apply through your bank's net banking ASBA option instead. Route Who uses it How money is blocked Cut-off on closing day Broker app + UPI Individuals bidding up to ₹5 lakh UPI mandate approved in your UPI app 5 pm (mandate acceptance) Bank net banking (ASBA) Anyone, including bids above ₹5 lakh Bank blocks the amount directly 4 pm 3-in-1 account (bank + broker + demat) Customers of bank-owned brokers Bank blocks the amount directly 5 pm Physical ASBA form at bank Investors without online access Branch blocks the amount 1 pm Cut-off times are from SEBI's T+3 circular of 9 August 2023. In practice, do not leave anything to the final afternoon: UPI and bank systems slow down sharply on the last day of popular issues. How to apply for an IPO via UPI: step by step The process looks the same on almost every broker app. Check the basics. Your PAN, demat account and bank account must all be in your name, with KYC validated. The UPI ID must belong to a bank account in your name; a spouse's or parent's UPI ID is the commonest cause of rejection. Read the RHP. The red herring prospectus gives the price band, lot size, category quotas, use of proceeds and risk factors. Our explainer on reading company results (/insights/how-to-read-quarterly-results) helps with the financial section. Place the bid. Choose the number of lots. As a retail investor, tick "cut-off price" so your bid is valid at whatever final price is fixed within the band. Approve the mandate. Within minutes (sometimes hours on busy days), your UPI app shows a block request. Approve it with your UPI PIN before 5 pm on the closing day. Confirm the status. Your broker app should show the bid as accepted, and your bank account should show a lien or blocked amount. Check allotment on T+1. Details below. Six steps to apply for an IPO via UPI and ASBA in India Common reasons IPO applications get rejected UPI ID linked to someone else's bank account (third-party payment). Mandate not approved by 5 pm on closing day. Multiple applications under the same PAN in the same category. PAN not matching the demat account, or demat account inactive. Bid above ₹2 lakh in the retail category, which pushes it to NII. Which IPO category should you apply in? Every issue is split into investor categories. Your category depends on how much you bid, not who you are. A retail individual investor (RII) bids up to ₹2 lakh. Non-institutional investors (NIIs) bid more, and since April 2022 this category is split into small NII (above ₹2 lakh up to ₹10 lakh, one-third of the NII portion) and big NII (above ₹10 lakh, two-thirds). How much the retail category gets depends on the company. A company that meets SEBI's profit-track-record tests reserves at least 35% of the net offer for retail. A company coming through the alternative route, usually a loss-maker, must give at least 75% to QIBs and at most 10% to retail. That single number shapes your allotment odds. Many IPOs also have an employee reservation and a shareholder quota (for shareholders of a listed parent). If you qualify, applying in that quota as well as retail is allowed and can improve your odds; the RHP spells out the rules for each issue. Comparison of IPO investor categories: retail individual investor, small NII and big NII How does IPO allotment work for retail investors? If the retail portion is undersubscribed, everyone gets what they bid for. If it is oversubscribed, SEBI's ICDR Regulations require the registrar to allot the minimum lot to as many retail applicants as possible, chosen by computerised lottery. Any shares left over after that are allotted proportionately. The consequence: once demand is high, applying for 13 lots does not improve your chance over applying for one. It only blocks more money. Your odds are roughly the number of retail lots available divided by the number of valid retail applications. Worked example. Take a ₹700 crore issue with 35% for retail, or ₹245 crore. At a lot value of ₹14,900, that is about 1,64,430 lots. If 16.4 lakh valid retail applications arrive, each applicant has about a 10% chance of one lot. If the same issue were a 10%-retail issue, only about 46,980 lots would be available and the odds would fall to under 3%. (Money n Wealth calculation; anchor allocation ignored for simplicity.) IPO allotment chance for retail investors falls from 50% to 1% as applications per available lot rise Can a family improve its chances? Yes, legitimately. Each adult family member with their own PAN, demat account and bank account can apply once in the retail category. That is two or three lottery tickets instead of one. What is not allowed is using one PAN for several applications, or paying from someone else's account. What happens after the IPO closes? The T+3 timeline SEBI cut the gap between issue closure and listing from six working days to three through its circular of 9 August 2023. It was optional from 1 September 2023 and mandatory for issues opening on or after 1 December 2023. Weekends and exchange holidays are not counted. Day What happens What you should do T (closing day) Bids close; retail and UPI mandates until 5 pm Make sure the mandate is approved T+1 Basis of allotment finalised by 6 pm, exchange approval by 9 pm Check allotment status that evening or next morning T+2 Unblocking completed by 4 pm; shares credited to demat by 6 pm Check bank and demat statements T+3 Shares list and trading starts Decide whether to hold or sell Holidays matter. This October, 20 October 2026 is a Dussehra trading holiday, so an issue closing on Monday 19 October has allotment on 21 October and listing on Friday 23 October. IPO T+3 listing timeline in India from issue close to allotment, refund, demat credit and listing How to check IPO allotment status There are four places to check, all free. The registrar's website. The RHP names the registrar, usually KFin Technologies, MUFG Intime (formerly Link Intime) or Bigshare Services. Select the IPO and enter your PAN, application number or demat (DP and client) ID. Registrars often show results first. BSE. The BSE "status of issue application" page lets you choose the issue and search by PAN or application number. NSE. NSE's IPO bid verification page shows status after allotment is finalised. Your broker app and bank. Brokers update the status, and the bank releases the block or debits the amount on T+2. Only use the official registrar or exchange sites. Fake "IPO allotment" links and apps that ask for login details are a common lure; see our guide to investment scams in 2026 (/insights/investment-scams-india-2026) . What if the money stays blocked? Unblocking should be complete by 4 pm on T+2. If it is not, contact your bank and the registrar first. SEBI's investor-compensation rules for delayed unblocking are counted from T+3, and the issuer and intermediaries are liable. If unresolved, escalate through SEBI SCORES, as explained in our guide on how to complain to SEBI (/insights/how-to-complain-sebi-scores-odr-ombudsman) . After allotment: listing day and tax Allotted shares sit in your demat like any other shares. You can sell on listing day or hold. Ignore the grey market premium when deciding; our explainer on why IPO GMP often misleads (/insights/what-is-ipo-gmp) shows why. Tax follows normal listed-share rules. Gains on shares sold within 12 months are short-term capital gains taxed at 20%; after 12 months, long-term gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year are taxed at 12.5%. Details are in our guide to capital gains tax on shares (/insights/capital-gains-tax-shares-tax-harvesting) . Also keep your demat nominee details (/insights/demat-account-nominee-ddpi-pledge) up to date. Are SME IPOs applied for the same way? The ASBA and UPI process is the same, but the rules are not. Minimum applications are much larger and the companies far smaller. Read why SME IPO risks are different (/insights/sme-ipo-risks-india) before bidding on one. Related reading Upcoming IPOs This Week (/insights/upcoming-ipos-this-week) What Is IPO GMP, and Why It Often Misleads (/insights/what-is-ipo-gmp) SME IPOs: Why the Risks Are Different (/insights/sme-ipo-risks-india) Unlisted and Pre-IPO Shares: Risks Most Investors Miss (/insights/unlisted-pre-ipo-shares-risks) Hindustan Copper OFS 2026: How to Apply (/insights/hindustan-copper-ofs-2026-how-to-apply) Direct Equity Investing: Taxation and Costs (/insights/direct-equity-investing-india-taxation-guide) Frequently Asked Questions What is the last time to approve the UPI mandate for an IPO? Under SEBI's T+3 framework, UPI mandates must be accepted by 5 pm on the issue's closing day. Brokers often stop taking new bids earlier, sometimes by 4 pm or 4:30 pm. A bid whose mandate is not approved in time is not valid, even if it shows as placed in your broker app. How much can a retail investor apply for in an IPO? A retail individual investor can bid up to ₹2 lakh in one issue, which usually means up to 13 or 14 lots for mainboard IPOs priced near ₹15,000 a lot. Bids above ₹2 lakh fall in the non-institutional category, which has different allotment rules and no cut-off price option. Does applying for more lots increase my chance of IPO allotment? Not when the retail portion is oversubscribed. The registrar first gives one lot to as many retail applicants as possible by lottery, so a 13-lot application and a 1-lot application have the same chance. Extra lots matter only when demand is low enough for proportionate allotment. When will I know if I got IPO shares? The basis of allotment is finalised on T+1, the working day after the issue closes, usually by the evening. You can check on the registrar's website, BSE or NSE with your PAN or application number. Money is unblocked and shares credited on T+2, and the shares list on T+3. Can I cancel or modify an IPO application? Retail investors can modify or cancel a bid until 5 pm on the closing day through their broker or bank. Non-institutional and QIB investors cannot withdraw or lower their bids at any stage. If you cancel, the UPI block is released by your bank. Can I use my spouse's UPI ID to apply for an IPO? No. The UPI ID must be linked to a bank account held in the applicant's own name, matching the PAN and demat account. Payments from a third-party account are rejected. Each family member should apply from their own bank account. What is the UPI limit for IPO applications? Individuals can use UPI for bids of up to ₹5 lakh per application, under SEBI's circular of 5 April 2022 that applied from 1 May 2022. For larger bids, apply through net banking ASBA with your bank. Sources: SEBI T+3 circular, 9 August 2023 (text) (https://taxguru.in/sebi/sebi-reduces-listing-timeline-public-issue-shares-t6-days-t3-days.html) ; Business Standard on T+3 listing (https://www.business-standard.com/amp/markets/news/sebi-reduces-timeline-for-listing-shares-to-t-3-from-t-6-from-december-1-123080900726_1.html) ; SEBI circular on UPI limit, 5 April 2022 (text) (https://taxguru.in/sebi/revision-upi-limits-public-issue-equity-shares-convertibles.html) ; INDmoney guide to allotment checks (https://www.indmoney.com/learn/ipo/ipo-allotment-status) ; NSE holidays 2026 (https://cleartax.in/s/nse-holidays-2026) . Worked examples are Money n Wealth calculations. Unsure how much of your portfolio should go into IPOs? IPO bets work best as a small satellite around a planned core. Talk to Money n Wealth (/contact) for a free portfolio review. This article is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Figures and examples are illustrative. Please consult a qualified financial adviser for guidance specific to your situation. Money n Wealth (Predics Fintech Services Pvt Ltd) is an AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor (ARN-121995) and APMI-registered PMS Distributor (APRN07444); it is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser and may earn distribution commission on investments made through it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the last time to approve the UPI mandate for an IPO?
Under SEBI's T+3 framework, UPI mandates must be accepted by 5 pm on the issue's closing day. Brokers often stop taking new bids earlier, sometimes by 4 pm or 4:30 pm. A bid whose mandate is not approved in time is not valid, even if it shows as placed in your broker app.
How much can a retail investor apply for in an IPO?
A retail individual investor can bid up to ₹2 lakh in one issue, which usually means up to 13 or 14 lots for mainboard IPOs priced near ₹15,000 a lot. Bids above ₹2 lakh fall in the non-institutional category, which has different allotment rules and no cut-off price option.
Does applying for more lots increase my chance of IPO allotment?
Not when the retail portion is oversubscribed. The registrar first gives one lot to as many retail applicants as possible by lottery, so a 13-lot application and a 1-lot application have the same chance. Extra lots matter only when demand is low enough for proportionate allotment.
When will I know if I got IPO shares?
The basis of allotment is finalised on T+1, the working day after the issue closes, usually by the evening. You can check on the registrar's website, BSE or NSE with your PAN or application number. Money is unblocked and shares credited on T+2, and the shares list on T+3.
Can I cancel or modify an IPO application?
Retail investors can modify or cancel a bid until 5 pm on the closing day through their broker or bank. Non-institutional and QIB investors cannot withdraw or lower their bids at any stage. If you cancel, the UPI block is released by your bank.
Can I use my spouse's UPI ID to apply for an IPO?
No. The UPI ID must be linked to a bank account held in the applicant's own name, matching the PAN and demat account. Payments from a third-party account are rejected. Each family member should apply from their own bank account.
What is the UPI limit for IPO applications?
Individuals can use UPI for bids of up to ₹5 lakh per application, under SEBI's circular of 5 April 2022 that applied from 1 May 2022. For larger bids, apply through net banking ASBA with your bank.
Unsure how much of your portfolio should go into IPOs?
IPO bets work best as a small satellite around a planned core. Talk to Money n Wealth for a free portfolio review.