IPO Not Allotted? When Money Is Unblocked and What to Do

If your IPO status says "not allotted", your bid was valid but you got no shares, and the full blocked amount should be released to your bank account by T+2 working days (two working days after the issue closed). No action is needed unless the hold is still there after that. As of October 2026, a delay beyond the deadline earns compensation of ₹100 a day or 15% a year on the amount, whichever is higher.

This guide covers what each result means, the exact day to expect your money, why most retail bids miss out, and what to do next. If you have not checked the result yet, see how to check IPO allotment status.

What your allotment status means

Registrars (KFin Technologies, MUFG Intime India, formerly Link Intime, Bigshare Services and others) and the BSE and NSE status pages use slightly different words, but they fall into four groups:

"Not allotted" is not a problem to fix. It simply means you were not picked. "Rejected" is different: the bid was not in the draw at all, so it is worth finding out why before your next application.

When the money comes back

Under SEBI's T+3 timeline (mandatory for issues opening on or after 1 December 2023), T is the closing day and only working days count.

A real calendar shows how weekends fit in. The LG Electronics India IPO closed on Thursday, 9 October 2025. Its offer document set the basis of allotment for Friday, 10 October, unblocking of funds and credit of shares for Monday, 13 October, and listing for Tuesday, 14 October. Saturday and Sunday were skipped.

Offer documents also state that banks must unblock unsuccessful bids no later than one working day after the basis of allotment is finalised, and that banks must send SMS alerts when an IPO amount is blocked and unblocked. If you see "not allotted" but no unblock SMS by the evening of T+2, check your available balance first; some apps keep showing an old hold.

If the money is still held after T+2, compensation applies from three working days after the closing date until the day it is released: ₹100 a day or 15% a year on the bid amount, whichever is higher. The steps and a complaint template are in IPO money blocked not refunded.

Why most retail bids are not allotted

In a main-board IPO, offer documents say each retail allottee gets at least one minimum bid lot, subject to availability, and the rest is shared proportionately. When the retail portion is heavily oversubscribed, there are not enough lots for everyone, so the registrar runs a computerised lottery among valid applications, and winners get one lot each.

Worked example: your odds (illustrative)

An issue sets aside 35% for retail. The retail portion has 1,50,000 lots. It receives 30,00,000 valid retail applications.

• Lots available per applicant: 1,50,000 ÷ 30,00,000 = 0.05
• Your chance of getting one lot: about 1 in 20 (5%)
• Applying for 13 lots instead of 1 does not change this, because each winner gets one lot. You would just block 13 times as much money.

With a lot of 34 shares at ₹432, one lot blocks ₹14,688 and 13 lots block ₹1,90,944. Both have roughly the same 5% chance in this example. For what genuinely helps (separate PANs in the family, the shareholder quota where offered, bidding at cut-off), read how to increase IPO allotment chances.

Other reasons you may have missed out

• You bid at a fixed price below the final price. Such bids are not eligible. Retail bidders who tick "cut-off" avoid this.
• The mandate was not approved by 5 pm on the closing day, so the bid never counted.
• The same PAN was used twice, which can get both applications rejected.
• The bid was above ₹2 lakh, so it sat in the non-institutional category, where allotment works differently. See IPO categories: retail, sHNI and bHNI.

What to do next, step by step

1. Confirm the result in two places, the registrar's site and the BSE or NSE status page, using your PAN.
2. On T+2, confirm the release in your bank SMS or available balance. Save a screenshot if anything looks wrong.
3. Check your demat account on T+2 evening. No shares should appear. If shares appear but the status said "not allotted", or money was debited without shares, contact your broker and the registrar with the application number.
4. Decide calmly about listing day. You can buy the shares on the exchange from T+3 like any listed stock, but at the market price, which can be well above or below the issue price. Read IPO listing day: what to do before placing an order at 10 am.
5. Learn from a rejection, if that was your status. Fix the PAN-demat link, UPI ID or bid price before the next issue.
6. Plan the next application. Track issues on our live IPO dashboard and read the offer document first, as explained in how to read the IPO offer document.

Myths after a "not allotted" result

• "The system remembers you and you will get the next one." False. Each issue's lottery is separate.
• "Someone can get you shares from the allotment for a fee." False. Allotment is done by the registrar under exchange supervision. Anyone selling "allotment quota" is running a scam; see how to spot investment scams.
• "Not allotted hurts your CIBIL score." False. An IPO bid is not a loan and is not reported to credit bureaus.
• "Big GMP means the IPO was worth chasing." Grey market premiums are unofficial and often wrong.

What not to do

• Do not share OTPs, UPI PINs or screen access with anyone who calls offering to "release" your IPO refund. Unblocking needs nothing from you.
• Do not search for a registrar's "customer care number" on social media. Use only the contact details printed in the offer document or on the registrar's official website.
• Do not pay anyone for a "pre-IPO" or "post-allotment" share deal through a personal bank account or UPI ID.
• Do not rush into a listing-day purchase just to make up for missing out.

This article is educational and does not recommend any IPO.

Key takeaways

• "Not allotted" means your valid bid did not win shares; "rejected" means it was invalid and never in the draw.
• The blocked amount should be released by T+2 working days, usually before the shares list on T+3.
• If it is still held, compensation of ₹100 a day or 15% a year (whichever is higher) runs from three working days after closing.
• In an oversubscribed retail book, winners get one lot each by lottery, so applying for more lots does not raise your odds.
• Missing out has no effect on your next IPO or your credit score; never pay anyone who promises allotment.