Checking Where You Stand After a Public Offer Closes

Once a company’s shares finish trading in the primary market, the period immediately following closure tends to be filled with anticipation for applicants awaiting confirmation of whether their bids were successful. This has certainly been true for the Snapdeal IPO, where thousands of retail and institutional applicants across the country have been keeping a close watch on developments following the close of bidding. For many first-time applicants in particular, understanding the IPO Allotment Status process, including where to check it and what the outcome actually means, can feel less straightforward than the application process itself. This article walks through the practical aspects of this stage, offering a clearer picture of what investors can expect in the days following the close of a public offer.

Table of Contents

• The Sequence of Events After Bidding Closes
• Practical Steps to Verifying Your Application Outcome
• What Happens to Unsuccessful Applications
• Timing Expectations Investors Should Keep in Mind
• Staying Informed Throughout The Post-Application Period

The Sequence of Events After Bidding Closes

Once the subscription window of a public issue closes, the process moves to a regulated, time-sensitive path defined by India’s securities market regulator. The registrar appointed to the offer is the central figure in the period, responsible for compiling all valid applications, validating PAN and demat account details, and executing the allotment process in accordance with a prescribed methodology; the latter of which changes depending on whether an offer was oversubscribed or undersubscribed in a specific investor category, and usually moves to either a proportionate or lottery allotment basis to ensure an equitable distribution of shares to eligible applicants.

Specifically for retail investors, an oversubscribed application in a category usually implies a computerised lottery process for determining the successful applicants, due to the impossibility of dividing the available quantity amongst hundreds of retail bids in proportion.

Practical Steps to Verifying Your Application Outcome

There are a few reliable avenues for an investor to take on the path of verifying if his application for a public issue has been allotted shares. Firstly, the website of the registrar appointed for the offer in question will have a link for allotment status, through which an applicant may view their allotment status via the submission of their PAN number, application number, or demat account number. The page in question is the most reliable source of information regarding the allotment of shares, as it is directly fed from the allotment data.

Additionally, both of India’s major stock exchanges have a bid verification tool for the purpose of cross-verifying one’s allotment status without having to rely on a registrar’s portal. Meanwhile, a majority of brokerage applications and trading platforms for submitting a public issue application also have allotment status tools, and will usually notify an applicant directly within the programme upon allotment results being announced, as opposed to having to enter the registrar’s website or the stock exchange’s tool.

What Happens to Unsuccessful Applications

Unsuccessful applications, whether due to an oversubscribed category or other factors like incomplete application details, will have the amount of funds blocked in their bank account unfrozen within a few days of allotment results being announced. Since most retail applications in India currently utilise the Application Supported by Blocked Amount system, funds are only transferred out if an applicant is successful in their application; as such, unsuccessful applicants do not have to go through the trouble of refund processing that non-ASBA applications used to require.

Timing Expectations Investors Should Keep in Mind

Although specific allotment dates may vary between different issues, a fairly standard pattern has been established for mainboard public issues in India, in which allotments are usually finalised by a day or two following the closure of the subscription window. This is followed by the crediting of successful applicants’ shares to their demat account(s), and the listing of the issue on the exchanges. It is advised that an investor keep track of the allotment dates published by the company and its registrar for the public issue that they have applied for, as these change from one offering to another depending on regulatory timelines.

Staying Informed Throughout The Post-Application Period

For investors who have applied to this or any other public offerings, it is advised that they exercise patience and utilise the above-mentioned resources for checking on their application in the days leading up to an allotment date. Refrain from relying on third-party sources, including unsubstantiated claims floating around one’s social media feed, to check on your application, as they are likely to be incorrect. Furthermore, understanding the entire process before applying for any public offering is a good way to ensure that you don’t get stressed over the possibility of applying to a public offering without succeeding, as many retail investors often new to investing in India’s primary market often do in the early stages.

At a Glance

• The Snapdeal IPO has generated significant interest among retail and institutional applicants in India following the close of its bidding process.
• The registrar appointed to the offer is responsible for validating applications and executing the allotment process based on whether the offer is oversubscribed or undersubscribed.
• Retail investors usually undergo a computerized lottery process for share allotment if their application category is oversubscribed.
• Investors can verify their application outcome for public issues through the registrar’s website, stock exchanges’ bid verification tools, or brokerage platforms.
• Unsuccessful applications will see blocked funds unfrozen within days of the allotment results, thanks to the Application Supported by Blocked Amount system.
• Allotment results for mainboard public issues are typically finalized one or two days after the subscription window closes, followed by the crediting of shares to successful applicants’ demat accounts.