How IPO allotment works — and how to check yours
Updated 19 October 2026
When more people bid for an IPO than there are shares, the shares are shared out by fixed rules for each investor category. Understanding them explains why a heavily subscribed IPO often leaves most retail applicants empty-handed.
Investor categories
- QIB — Qualified Institutional Buyers such as mutual funds, banks and insurers.
- NII — Non-Institutional Investors (often called HNIs), bidding above the retail limit.
- RII — Retail Individual Investors, bidding up to ₹2 lakh.
- Some issues also reserve shares for employees or shareholders of the parent company.
Retail allotment is a lottery
If the retail portion is oversubscribed, SEBI rules aim to give the minimum lot to as many retail applicants as possible. A computerised lottery picks the winners. Applying for more lots does not raise your chance much — each valid application gets roughly the same chance at one lot.
The timeline (T+3)
- T — the issue closes.
- T+1 — allotment is finalised.
- T+2 — shares are credited to demat accounts and blocked money is released for non-allottees.
- T+3 — the shares list on the exchange.
Where to check
The registrar (named on each IPO page) publishes allotment status, usually on the evening of T+1. You can search by PAN, application number or DP/Client ID. Our allotment page lists the main registrars with direct links.