Applied for an IPO and did not get shares. Applied again and still got nothing. The frustration is common, and so is the confusion behind it.
When companies go public through an Initial Public Offering (IPO), they issue shares to raise capital from the public. However, due to high demand, the number of applications often exceeds the shares available. This is where the Basis of Allotment comes in. This mechanism determines how the system distributes shares among investors, ensuring a fair and transparent allocation process.
For IPO investors, understanding the basis of allotment is crucial to track their IPO allotment status, check their allotment results, and grasp the process used to decide who receives shares.
This guide explains the Basis of Allotment in detail, covering its types, process, and how to check your IPO allotment status.
IPO allotment are shares from a public offering distributed to applicants after subscription closes. Registrar calculates who gets how many based on demand, investor category, and SEBI rules.
IPO allotment meaning in plain terms: the moment an application becomes a shareholding or does not. The allotment date of IPO falls after subscription closes, before listing.
Allotment of shares is not a promise rather it is a result.
The basis of allotment document is the official record of how shares were distributed: valid applications per category, shares applied for versus offered, method used.
For investors: It decides whether blocked application money returns or converts into shares. An oversubscribed IPO returns most applicants’ money. The document explains why.
For the market: Demand signal. 100x QIB subscription with full retail allotment reads differently than partial allotment at every level.
Subscription closes, and the registrar validates all applications. Invalid ones with wrong UAN, incorrect bank details, duplicate PAN are removed. What remains is the valid pool.
Pool splits by category: QIBs, NIIs (HNIs), and Retail (RIIs). Each has a reserved portion.
Retail oversubscribed: Computerised lottery. Every valid retail applicant gets at most one lot. More lots applied for in a single account does not increase probability. One lot is the maximum allotment regardless of application size.
NII: Pro-rata. Larger bid, proportionally more shares at a given subscription level.
QIB: Generally proportional above cut-off price.
How is IPO allotment done when under-subscribed?
All valid applicants in that category get full allotment. Shortfall can transfer to other categories under specific conditions.
Pro-rata basis: Shares allocated proportionally. Demand twice supply with each applicant gets half of what they bid. NII and QIB categories.
Fixed basis (Lottery): Retail category when oversubscribed. One lot or nothing per application. Computer randomises the selection. Multiple lots in one account: does not improve odds. Multiple accounts across eligible family members, each with separate PAN and bank: does.
Other methods: SME IPOs, different SEBI rules, different category splits from mainboard. Fixed-price issues differ from book-built. Not all IPOs use the same framework.
Demand versus supply: Subscription multiple determines everything. 2x retail oversubscription: one in two gets allotted. 50x: one in fifty. Daily subscription data during the window signals where odds are heading.
Investor categories and their impact: Heavy QIB subscription typically pulls retail demand behind it. The category-wise split shows whether demand was concentrated or broad. QIB-heavy with weak retail: different signal than uniform demand across all categories.
BSE or NSE allotment pages. Registrar website for the specific IPO (Link Intime, KFin Technologies, or Bigshare Services for most). NSDL ipo allotment status via NSDL portal using PAN or application number.
Select IPO from dropdown. Enter PAN, application number, or DP/Client ID depending on which portal. Different registrars ask for different identifiers.
Three outcomes: Shares allotted, application received but no allotment (refund initiated), or application not found (invalid). Allotment date of IPO: typically, five to six working days after subscription closes.
Retail investors who know the lottery stops at one lot stop applying for multiple lots. That blocked capital never improved odds.
NII allotment is pro-rata: At 50x subscription, minimum HNI threshold gets ~2% of what was bid. Meaningful allocation requires sizing the bid against expected subscription levels.
Knowing IPO allotment time lets investors plan capital. Refund from one IPO must clear before the next application, or capital gets double-blocked.
Live subscription data by category during the window: QIB, NII, retail updated through the day.
Allotment tracking in one place rather than visiting each registrar separately. Notification when results publish.
Basis of allotment history for recent IPOs: what the subscription multiple was, how retail allotted, what grey market implied before listing.
Jainam Broking Limited provides live IPO subscription data, category-wise breakdowns, and allotment notifications. Multiple IPO applications across a year: organised in one dashboard instead of scattered across portals.
Basis of allotment is not arbitrary, and retail is a lottery with one lot at a time. Moreover, NII is pro-rata, and QIB is proportional above cut-off. Knowing the category determines the bid strategy. Every IPO publishes the basis of allotment document. Reading one teaches more about how IPO allotment works than any summary does.
Official mechanism and document: who gets shares and how many.
Published by the registrar after subscriptions close.
Retail: apply through multiple eligible family members with separate PANs and bank accounts. One application per PAN. NII: bid higher, allotment is pro-rata. Multiple lots in a single retail account: does not help.
No. Mainboard versus SME, book-built versus fixed-price: different rules apply. Registrar publishes the specific basis for each IPO.
Application money returns to the source bank account via ASBA within two to three working days after allotment. No action needed.
Five to six working days after subscription closes. Registrar publishes on their website and on BSE and NSE. Broker platforms send notifications on allotment date.
Retail lottery: Cannot be appealed. Technical rejections result in automatic refund. Process grievances: SEBI’s SCORES portal.
PAN, demat account (DP ID and Client ID), ASBA-linked bank account, bid quantity. Registrar validates against existing records. All three must match correctly.
Subscription data, allotment notifications, basis of allotment documents, refund tracking: one place instead of registrar websites, BSE, NSE, and NSDL separately. For investors across multiple concurrent IPOs, that consolidation matters.
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