You have done the groundwork, decided the company is in your budget, pressed apply on an upcoming IPO 2026. The most nerve-wracking part of the process begins now. The wait. The period of limbo between making an application and being able to view the shares in your Demat account can be excruciating. What exactly is going on in the mean-time? Here’s what goes on during the waiting period for IPO allotment.
The Bidding Window Closes
The first step happens right after the bidding window closes. Your broker forwards the application documents and the payment (which has been blocked as a UPI mandate) to the exchange. The company and the lead managers of the book-building IPO tally all the applications that have come in. If the company has an oversubscribed IPO, only a certain percentage of the applicants will be able to receive shares. This is where the registrar comes in.
The Registrar’s Lottery System
The registrar (Link Intime or KFintech) of the IPO is the neutral party who ensures that the allotment of shares happens in a fair manner. The registrar uses the different categories you applied under to decide your share allotment.
If you had applied under the Retail Individual Investor (RII) category and the IPO was oversubscribed, you are in for a lottery system. A computer decides the winners of the shares randomly. There is nothing you can do to increase your chances at this point. If you applied under the High Net-worth Individual (HNI) and institutional categories, the allotment is proportional to the demand. The registrar then finalizes the category-wise lists and shares them with the stock exchanges.
How to Check Your IPO Allotment Status
Right after the registrar has made the final list, you can check your IPO allotment status. The allotment status is shared on the registrar’s website as well as the BSE and NSE portals. You will need to enter your PAN number or application number to search.
Do not want to keep an eye on the portal? An SMS and email from the exchange and the depository (CDSL / NSDL) will confirm if you have received shares or have been refunded.
The Great Unblocking and Allotment
If you are one of the lucky few to have received shares allotment, they will be deposited in your Demat account a day before the listing date. On the other hand, if you have not received allotment confirmation, your UPI mandate will expire, and the money will be transferred back to your bank account the same day. It is essential to remember that in case of oversubscription, you cannot expect an IPO allotment for sure. It is always a gamble with probabilities.
The Listing Day Arrives
Finally, the listing day arrives. If you have received shares, you can choose to hold or sell them off when the stock begins to trade on the secondary market. It is always a mixed bag of emotions to see the opening price of the stock. If the stock listed at a discount, you feel deflated. If it listed at a premium, it feels fantastic.
The period between allotment and listing usually takes up around 3 to 4 working days. It is a quick process. Keep an eye on the process using the Angel One Upcoming IPO page.
