There's no way to guarantee an IPO allotment. When an IPO is oversubscribed, shares in the retail category are allotted by a computerised lottery, and every valid application in the minimum-lot bucket has an equal chance. What you can do is make sure your application is valid and counted—applying for more shares does not improve your odds in the retail lottery.
What actually helps
- Apply at the cut-off price. This means you accept the final issue price, so your bid isn't excluded if the price is set at the top of the band.
- Bid for one lot if you're aiming for the retail lottery. In an oversubscribed issue, extra lots don't increase your chance in the retail draw—each retail application is treated as one entry. Bidding above ₹2,00,000 moves you to the HNI / NII category, which has its own allotment method.
- Keep the application valid. A rejected application can't be allotted anything, so approve the UPI mandate in time and keep the full amount funded—see Why was my IPO application rejected?.
- Use one PAN per application. Multiple applications on the same PAN are rejected. Different family members can each apply from their own PAN and demat account (each funded from their own bank account).
What doesn't help
- Bidding for many lots in the retail category, or applying multiple times on the same PAN—both either don't change the odds or get rejected.
To place your bid, see How do I apply for an IPO?.