How-to pre-apply IPO Zerodha Kite IPO application UPI ASBA mainboard IPO

How to pre-apply for an IPO on Zerodha Kite

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated 21 June 2026. Reading time ~10 min. Level: Beginner.

Key facts

Pre-apply window	From one day before the IPO launch until 10 AM on the issue open date
Where it lives on Kite	Bids then IPO, then the Pre-apply button on the issue card
When it submits to the exchange	Automatically, once the IPO window opens at 10 AM on the open date
When the UPI mandate arrives	After 10 AM on the IPO start date, to be accepted before the issue closes
SME IPOs	Not supported; pre-apply is available for mainboard issues only
Effect on allotment	None; allotment odds are the same whether you pre-apply or apply during the window

Procedure

Open Bids then IPO before the issue opensOn Kite web or the Kite app, go to Bids then IPO. During the day before an issue opens, the upcoming issue shows a Pre-apply option rather than the usual Apply button.
Select the issue and tap Pre-applyClick or tap the upcoming IPO, then select Pre-apply. This opens the bid entry form. Pre-apply is offered only for mainboard issues, not for SME IPOs, where the option does not appear.
Choose your investor typeSelect Individual for a retail application, or Employee if you are an eligible employee of the issuer applying under the employee reservation. Choose before entering the bid so the right category limits apply.
Enter your UPI IDEnter a UPI ID mapped to a bank account in your own name with a PAN matching your demat. A family-member, business or merchant UPI ID is rejected by the sponsor bank.
Enter or edit quantity and priceEnter quantity in multiples of the lot size and a price within the price band, or select cut-off. You can adjust the quantity and price while the pre-apply window is still open.
Tick the undertaking and submitTick the SEBI undertaking confirming the bid is not a duplicate and you meet category eligibility, then submit. On the app you swipe to submit; on web you click Submit. The bid is now queued.
Let Kite forward the bid when the window opensWhen the IPO window opens at 10 AM on the open date, your queued pre-application is sent to the exchange automatically. You do not need to be online at 10 AM for this to happen.
Approve the UPI mandate after 10 AM on the open dateThe UPI mandate request reaches your UPI app after 10 AM on the start date. Open the app and approve it with your UPI PIN before the issue closes; an unapproved mandate means no valid bid.

Pre-apply on Zerodha Kite lets you place an IPO bid before the issue opens, from one day before the IPO launch until 10 AM on the open date, and have Zerodha forward it to the exchange automatically the moment the window opens. It removes the need to be at your screen at 10 AM on a busy launch morning. The bid sits queued; when the issue opens, it is submitted on your behalf and the UPI mandate request then reaches your UPI app for approval.

Pre-apply is a convenience feature, not an advantage feature. It changes nothing about your odds: retail allotment in an oversubscribed book is a lottery of one lot each under the basis of allotment , so a queued bid and a live-window bid have the same chance. What pre-apply buys you is certainty that the application is in, set up at a time that suits you. This guide covers the exact window, the click sequence on web and app, when the bid reaches the exchange, when the mandate arrives, and the one category that cannot use it: SME issues.

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by the WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes and is written independently. WebNotes operates a Zerodha account-opening referral programme, disclosed on the pages that carry the referral link; this guide does not carry it and earns no referral commission from the procedure described here.

Step-by-step procedure

The numbered box above is the full sequence on both Kite web and the Kite app. The sections below expand the timing, the SME exclusion, and the mandate step, which is where a pre-apply most often goes wrong.

1. Open Bids then IPO during the pre-apply window

The window is precise: from one day before the IPO launch until 10 AM on the issue open date. Go to Bids then IPO on Kite web or the Kite app during this period. An upcoming issue that is inside its pre-apply window shows a Pre-apply control in place of the usual Apply button. Outside the window, before the day-before or after 10 AM on open day, you will not see Pre-apply; before, the issue is not yet open for it, and after, you use the normal Apply flow described in How to apply for an IPO on Kite web .

2. Select the issue, choose investor type, and enter the bid

Tap or click the issue, then Pre-apply. Choose Individual for a retail bid, or Employee if you qualify under the issuer’s employee reservation. Enter your UPI ID, then the quantity in multiples of the lot size and a price within the price band , or select cut-off to accept the final issue price. While the window is open you can edit the quantity and price; this is the period to settle on your bid. For the mechanics of lots, cut-off versus a specific price and multiple bids, see How to place IPO bids on Kite .

3. Tick the undertaking and submit

Tick the SEBI undertaking confirming the bid is not a duplicate under another PAN and that you meet category eligibility. On the app you swipe to submit; on web you click Submit. The bid is now queued as a pre-application. Nothing is sent to the exchange yet, and no mandate has been raised; both happen when the issue opens.

4. The bid forwards to the exchange automatically

When the IPO window opens at 10 AM on the open date, your queued pre-application is sent to the exchange automatically. This is the core of the feature: you do not have to log in or do anything at 10 AM. Zerodha submits the bid on your behalf as part of the open-day batch.

5. Approve the UPI mandate after 10 AM on the open date

The UPI mandate request reaches your UPI app after 10 AM on the IPO start date, once the bid has been forwarded. This is the step that still needs you. Open the UPI app, find the IPO mandate in the pending-requests or mandate section, check the issuer name and block amount, and authorise with your UPI PIN. The mandate must be accepted before the issue closes, and in practice by 5 PM on the closing day, the hard cut-off for any retail IPO mandate. If no mandate request arrives within about an hour of the bid being forwarded, treat it as stuck and follow the recovery in How to fix a UPI mandate timeout . For the per-app approval steps, see How to approve a UPI IPO mandate .

Pre-apply timing at a glance

Stage	Timing
Pre-apply window opens	One day before the IPO launch
Pre-apply window closes	10 AM on the issue open date
Queued bid forwarded to exchange	Automatically, at 10 AM on the open date
UPI mandate request reaches your app	After 10 AM on the open date
Mandate acceptance cut-off	Before the issue closes, by 5 PM on the closing day

After 10 AM on the open date the pre-apply route is closed and the issue moves to the normal order window, 10 AM to 4:45 PM on each bidding day, covered in IPO order timings on Kite .

Why pre-apply, and why not for SME

Pre-apply suits a reader who knows in advance they want a particular mainboard issue and would rather set up the bid the evening before than watch the clock on launch morning. It pairs naturally with an IPO reminder : the reminder tells you an issue is coming, and pre-apply lets you act before it opens.

It is not offered for SME issues. SME applications run on the normal window only, so for an SME IPO you apply between 10 AM on the open day and 4:45 PM on the close day directly. The mainboard versus SME distinction matters here: the higher SME minimum application value and the different category mechanics sit outside the pre-apply flow.

What pre-apply does not change

Pre-apply does not block money early; the block happens through the UPI mandate after the issue opens, exactly as in a normal application. It does not lock in an allotment, and it does not raise your odds. The retail draw under the basis of allotment is indifferent to when within the issue you applied. If the issue is oversubscribed, see IPO oversubscription and allotment for how the lottery works and why one careful application beats many rushed ones.

What can go wrong

Missing the 10 AM cut-off: the pre-apply window closes at 10 AM on the open date. After that, use the normal Apply flow during the live window; the pre-apply control disappears.
Looking for pre-apply on an SME issue: it is not there. SME IPOs have no pre-apply; apply during the standard 10 AM to 4:45 PM window instead.
Ignoring the mandate after the bid forwards: forwarding the bid is automatic, approving the mandate is not. The mandate arrives after 10 AM on the open date and must be accepted before the issue closes, by 5 PM on the closing day.
No mandate within an hour: if the request does not reach your UPI app within about an hour of the bid being forwarded, delete and resubmit the application, or follow the UPI mandate timeout fix, rather than waiting indefinitely.
Wrong UPI ID queued: a family, business or merchant UPI ID queued at pre-apply is still rejected at the sponsor bank when the bid forwards. Use a UPI ID on a bank account in your own name with a matching PAN.
Bid above the retail UPI limit: pre-apply runs on the retail UPI ASBA route. A bid above the UPI per-transaction limit cannot use it; apply through bank ASBA instead.

External references

References

Zerodha support, How to pre-apply for an IPO on Zerodha Kite (pre-apply window one day before launch to 10 AM on open date; bid forwarded automatically; not available for SME IPOs), as of 21 June 2026.
Zerodha support, When can you place IPO orders on Zerodha (order window 10 AM to 4:45 PM; mandate acceptance by 5 PM on closing day), as of 21 June 2026.
SEBI investor education material on applying in public issues through UPI ASBA, investor.sebi.gov.in.
NPCI circular dated September 2025 raising the UPI per-transaction limit for capital-market categories to Rs 5 lakh.

WebNotes Editorial Team prepares factual how-to guides based on publicly available regulatory documents and broker disclosures. WebNotes is not affiliated with Zerodha Broking Limited. Procedures, UI labels and timings are subject to change; verify current requirements at support.zerodha.com before acting.

Frequently asked questions

What is the pre-apply window on Zerodha Kite?

Pre-apply is open from one day before the IPO launches until 10 AM on the issue open date. During this window you queue your bid on Kite, and Zerodha forwards it to the exchange automatically once the issue opens.

When does a pre-applied IPO bid go to the exchange?

Automatically, when the IPO window opens at 10 AM on the open date. You do not have to be logged in at that moment. The bid is submitted on your behalf, and the UPI mandate then arrives for you to approve.

Does pre-applying improve my allotment chances?

No. Allotment odds are identical whether you pre-apply or apply during the live window. Retail allotment in an oversubscribed issue is a lottery of one lot each, so timing within the issue does not affect the draw.

Can I pre-apply for an SME IPO on Kite?

No. Pre-apply is available for mainboard issues only. For an SME IPO the option does not appear; you apply during the normal window from 10 AM on the open day to 4:45 PM on the closing day.

When do I approve the UPI mandate for a pre-applied bid?

The mandate request reaches your UPI app after 10 AM on the IPO start date, once the queued bid is forwarded to the exchange. Approve it with your UPI PIN before the issue closes, or the bid is not valid.

Can I edit a pre-applied bid before the issue opens?

Yes. While the pre-apply window is still open you can adjust the quantity and price. Once the window closes at 10 AM on the open date and the bid is forwarded, you change it through the normal modify route during the live window.

Do I need money in my account to pre-apply?

No. Like any UPI ASBA application, the amount is blocked in your bank account through the UPI mandate, not debited from Zerodha. You approve that mandate after the issue opens; no funds move when you pre-apply.

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WebNotes Editorial Team

The WebNotes Editorial Team covers Indian capital markets, payments infrastructure and retail investor procedures. Every article is fact-checked against primary sources, principally SEBI circulars and master directions, NPCI specifications and the official support documentation published by the intermediary in question. Drafts go through a second-pair-of-eyes review and a separate compliance read before publication, and revisions are tracked against the SEBI and NPCI rule changes referenced in the methodology section.

Last reviewed: 21 June 2026
Conflicts of interest: WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.