IPO UPI ASBA NPCI UPI apps Sponsor bank Issuer bank IPO

UPI ASBA supported apps and banks for IPOs

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated . Reading time ~13 min.

UPI ASBA for IPOs runs on a published list of approved apps and banks maintained by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the operator of the Unified Payments Interface , under SEBI’s framework for blocking application money in the bidder’s own account. An IPO bid on UPI works only when two conditions hold at once: the app you use can carry the IPO block mandate, and the bank behind your UPI ID is live on NPCI’s IPO partner list. This article sets out which apps and which banks qualify, the two distinct bank roles, the per-transaction limit, and how to check the current list before a time-sensitive bid on Zerodha Kite .

The list matters because a bid can fail at the bank end even when the broker screen accepts the order. Zerodha keeps no separate fixed roster of handles; its IPO window simply offers whatever banks NPCI currently shows as live, so the authoritative source is always NPCI, not the broker. Treating the NPCI page as the reference, rather than assuming “all UPI apps work everywhere,” is what separates a clean bid from a closing-day scramble.

Apps that support the IPO mandate

The IPO block mandate is a one-time UPI mandate under the UPI 2.0 AutoPay specification, and NPCI requires every certified UPI app to render it. In practice the apps that carry the IPO Block Funds mandate are:

UPI appTypeIPO mandate support
BHIMNPCI’s own appSupported; surfaces the mandate on the home screen
Google PayThird-party app (TPAP)Supported
PhonePeThird-party app (TPAP)Supported
PaytmThird-party app (TPAP)Supported
Amazon PayThird-party app (TPAP)Supported
WhatsApp PayThird-party app (TPAP)Supported
Bank-own UPI appsIssuer-bank appsSupported; often the most reliable for mandate delivery

The app is rarely the binding constraint. What decides eligibility is the bank that hosts your UPI ID, because the bank, not the app, places the lien. A Google Pay handle on an HDFC Bank account and a PhonePe handle on the same HDFC Bank account both work, because HDFC Bank is the live issuer bank in each case. If an app’s handle is not accepted on the Kite window, the usual cause is the bank or the app’s payment service provider (PSP) route, not the app brand itself. For the per-app approval steps, see the guides for BHIM , Google Pay , PhonePe , and Paytm .

The two bank roles: sponsor and issuer

Every UPI ASBA bid involves two banks playing different parts, and conflating them is the most common source of confusion.

The sponsor bank is a SEBI-registered Self Certified Syndicate Bank (SCSB ) appointed for a specific issue by the book running lead manager . It is the gateway between the stock exchange and the NPCI mandate rails, and it generates the inbound block-request mandate addressed to your bank. You do not choose it and need no account with it; it is named in the issue prospectus and shown on the bid page. Banks that frequently act as sponsor banks for mainboard issues include HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank and the State Bank of India.

Issuer bank

The issuer bank is your own bank, the one that hosts the savings account your UPI ID maps to. It is the bank that actually places the lien on your account when you approve the mandate. Issuer-bank eligibility is governed by NPCI’s UPI for IPO list. As of 2026 nearly all scheduled commercial banks and most small finance banks are eligible; payments banks and merchant UPI categories are excluded, so a handle on one of those is rejected at the sponsor-bank stage. For the practical rules on which of your accounts the handle must point to, see the bank account linked with the UPI ID for an IPO .

How to check the current list

The single source of truth is the NPCI UPI for IPO live partners page at npci.org.in. Before a closing-day bid on a bank you have not used for an IPO recently, confirm two things there: that your issuer bank appears as live, and that the sponsor bank named in the issue is operational. The list is reviewed periodically and a bank can drop off temporarily during an outage, which is why a handle that worked last quarter may not work today. If your bank is not live, the routes are to use a UPI ID on a different supported bank, or to apply through bank ASBA via NetBanking , which does not depend on the UPI partner list at all.

When the Kite IPO window itself does not display your handle, that is the on-screen symptom of your bank not being live; why some UPI handles are not shown on the Zerodha IPO window walks through the diagnosis. If you have no supported handle, how to create a BHIM UPI ID for an IPO sets one up on a supported bank account.

Limits that bound the supported list

The supported-list eligibility interacts with three caps, only one of which is set by NPCI.

CapValueSet byEffective
UPI per-transaction limit, IPO and capital marketsRs 5,00,000NPCI9 December 2021
UPI daily cumulative limit, IPO categoryRs 10,00,000NPCI15 September 2025
Retail individual investor application ceilingRs 2,00,000SEBI ICDRStanding

A bid up to Rs 2,00,000 sits in the retail category; a bid above Rs 2,00,000 and up to the Rs 5,00,000 UPI ceiling is technically deliverable through a supported app and bank but is classified under the Non-Institutional Investor category, per SEBI’s UPI-in-ASBA FAQ. Above Rs 5,00,000, no UPI app or bank can carry the bid, and the applicant must use bank ASBA . See who can use UPI ASBA for an IPO for the eligibility detail and IPO investor categories for the category map.

The third-party rejection rule

A supported app and a supported bank are necessary but not sufficient. NPCI’s customer FAQ states that applications made by retail investors using a third-party UPI ID, or by any category of investor using a third-party bank account, are liable for rejection, and that an IPO amount cannot be initiated as a direct pay to a UPI ID. The registrar to the issue matches the PAN on the bidding demat against the PAN on the bank account behind the UPI ID. So even a Google Pay handle on a live HDFC Bank account is rejected if that account is not the bidder’s own. The supported list answers “can this app and bank carry the mandate”; the third-party rule answers “is this the applicant’s own account,” and both must pass.

References

  1. NPCI, Apply for IPO using UPI ID product overview and UPI for IPO live partners list, npci.org.in (supported apps; sponsor and issuer bank roles; periodic review).
  2. NPCI, FAQs on UPI 2.0 IPO for Customer, npci.org.in (third-party UPI ID and third-party bank account liable for rejection; no direct pay to a UPI ID).
  3. NPCI Circular dated 9 December 2021, Enhancement of UPI per-transaction limit to Rs 5,00,000 for capital-market use cases.
  4. NPCI Circular dated 8 September 2025, Doubling of the daily cumulative limit for the IPO category to Rs 10,00,000.
  5. SEBI, FAQs on the use of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with ASBA in public issues, April 2022 (retail and NII classification by application amount).

See also

External references

Related articles

Frequently asked questions

Which UPI apps support IPO applications through UPI ASBA?
Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM, Amazon Pay, WhatsApp Pay and most banks’ own UPI apps support the IPO block mandate under NPCI’s specification. The app must be linked to a UPI ID on a bank that is live for UPI ASBA.
Where is the official list of supported banks for UPI ASBA?
On the NPCI UPI for IPO live partners page at npci.org.in. It lists the banks live as sponsor and issuer banks. Zerodha and other brokers do not maintain a separate fixed list; they offer whatever banks NPCI shows as live.
Why can I use my bank's UPI app but not a third-party app for one IPO?
The block depends on your own bank being live as an issuer bank on the NPCI list, regardless of app. If a third-party app’s handle is not accepted, the underlying bank may not be live, or the app’s PSP route is not resolving the mandate; switch to the bank’s own UPI handle.
Are payments bank UPI handles supported for IPOs?
No. Payments banks and merchant UPI categories are not on the NPCI IPO eligible list. Use a UPI ID mapped to a scheduled commercial bank or a small finance bank that appears as live on the NPCI partners page.
Do I choose the sponsor bank for my IPO application?
No. The sponsor bank is named by the book running lead manager for each issue, and you cannot change it. You only choose your own bank, the issuer bank, through the UPI ID you enter. You need no relationship with the sponsor bank.
How often does the supported-bank list change?
NPCI reviews the list periodically and adds or removes banks as they go live or fix outages. A bank live last month may be temporarily off; always check the current NPCI list before bidding on a closing-day issue rather than relying on memory.

Reviewed and published by

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
Conflicts of interest
WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.