How to Apply for an IPO in India: The Complete UPI & ASBA Walkthrough

Published 12 June 2026 · WorldBest IPO Editorial · Educational content, not investment advice

Applying for an IPO in India takes about three minutes once you have done it twice — but the first time is a maze of unfamiliar words: ASBA, UPI mandate, cut-off price, retail category, lot size. This guide walks through the entire process step by step, covers both application routes (UPI through your broker, ASBA through your bank), explains the investor categories and their rules, and lists the technical mistakes that silently get thousands of applications rejected in every issue.

Before you start: the two prerequisites

• A demat account. Allotted shares can only land in a demat account in your name. If you don't have one, any of the major discount brokers opens one free (or nearly free) within a day via Aadhaar eKYC — our broker comparison ranks them specifically for IPO applications.
• A UPI ID linked to YOUR bank account. For the UPI route, the bank account behind your UPI handle must belong to the same PAN as the application. Using a spouse's or parent's UPI for your application is the single most common avoidable rejection.

Funds: you don't transfer money anywhere. The application amount is only blocked in your own bank account (that's what ASBA — Application Supported by Blocked Amount — means) and is debited only if and when you are allotted shares.

Route 1: Apply via UPI through your broker (the way most retail investors do it)

1. Open the IPO section of your broker's app. Zerodha: Console → Portfolio → IPOs (or Kite → Bids → IPO). Groww: the IPO tab under Stocks. Upstox, Angel One, Dhan and others have equivalent sections. Issues currently accepting bids — like the SME issues on our calendar this week — appear automatically.
2. Select the IPO and tap Apply. The app shows the price band, lot size and dates — cross-check them against the GMP page details if you like.
3. Choose your quantity in lots. One lot is the minimum (e.g. 333 shares for Hexagon Nutrition's Rs 42–45 band ≈ Rs 14,985). You can bid more lots, but in an oversubscribed retail book extra lots do not increase allotment odds — see Allotment Tips for the maths.
4. Bid at cut-off. Tick the cut-off checkbox (most apps preselect it). This means "I accept the final discovered price within the band" and keeps your bid valid at any outcome. The block is taken at the upper band; any difference is refunded.
5. Enter your UPI ID and submit. The exchange validates the application and your UPI app receives a mandate request — usually within minutes, occasionally hours on heavy days.
6. Approve the mandate in your UPI app. Open GPay/PhonePe/BHIM/your bank's app, find the mandate notification, verify the amount and approve with your UPI PIN. Your application is not complete until this step. The money stays in your account, blocked, earning interest as usual.
7. Save the application number. You'll use it (or just your PAN) to check allotment status on T+1.

Route 2: Apply via ASBA through net banking

The original route, still preferred by many for larger applications because it skips UPI mandate limits:

1. Log in to net banking (most major banks support it — look for "IPO/ASBA" under investments or e-services).
2. Select the live issue, fill in your demat DP ID/Client ID, bid quantity and price (or cut-off).
3. Confirm — the bank blocks the amount directly. No UPI mandate is involved.

Note: applications above Rs 5 lakh (big HNI territory) must use ASBA, since UPI mandates are capped. Retail applications work fine on either route.

Know your category — the rules differ

Most readers belong in retail: applications up to Rs 2 lakh, cut-off bidding allowed, lottery allotment. Note that an SME IPO's single-lot minimum (Rs 2.4–2.7 lakh on current issues) exceeds the retail ceiling by design — SME applications land in the HNI bucket and follow its rules. The SME vs Mainboard guide explains the segment's extra risks.

Timing: when to apply and when it's too late

• Bidding runs roughly 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM on each day of the issue window (typically three working days — exact dates per issue on the calendar).
• On the final day, many brokers stop accepting fresh UPI applications around 3:00–4:00 PM, and the UPI mandate must be approved by 5:00 PM.
• Apply on day one or two. It does not change your lottery odds, but it eliminates the very real last-day failure modes: broker queues, delayed mandates, and mandates approved at 5:01 PM that count for nothing.
• One genuine reason to wait until day two: seeing QIB subscription build. Institutional demand on day two/three is a more honest signal than day-one retail noise or GMP alone.

The rejection list: mistakes that void applications

• Multiple applications on one PAN. Applying twice "to be safe" gets both applications rejected. One PAN, one application, per issue — family members each applying under their own PAN is the legitimate alternative.
• Unapproved UPI mandate. Submitting in the broker app is half the job; the application is live only after you approve the mandate.
• Third-party UPI or bank account. The bank account (and its UPI handle) must match the applicant's PAN.
• Bidding below the discovered price instead of cut-off — automatically out if the book discovers higher.
• Name/PAN mismatch between demat, bank and application records — usually a legacy KYC issue worth fixing once, permanently.
• Insufficient balance at mandate execution. The block needs real money behind it on allotment day, not just at application time.

After you apply: the T+3 timeline

1. Issue closes (T). Nothing to do.
2. T+1: allotment finalised. Check status with the registrar — steps and links on our allotment page.
3. T+2: demat credit or mandate release. Allotted shares appear in your account; unsuccessful applications see the UPI block lifted.
4. T+3: listing day. The stock debuts in the pre-open session and trades from ~10:00 AM. Decide your plan the night before; debut prints move fast — CMR Green Technologies opened 43% up on 10 June 2026, while plenty of issues open flat or down.

FAQs about applying for IPOs

Next steps: see what's open on the IPO Calendar, read the grey market's verdict on the GMP page, and squeeze every legitimate edge from IPO Allotment Tips.