T+3 listing
Also written T+3 listing timeline · T+3 day listing
The requirement that shares from an IPO or FPO be listed and start trading within 3 working days of the issue closing (T+3) — reduced from an earlier T+6 by a SEBI circular of August 2023.
In plain language
Once a public issue closes, an investor who was allotted shares wants to be able to sell them. The gap between the issue closing and the shares actually trading used to be up to six working days. SEBI has cut that gap to three.
A listed issuer, and any company making an IPO or further public offer, must now have its shares listed and trading within 3 working days of the issue closing date — this is what the workbook, and the market, calls T+3 listing, where T is the issue-closing date.
How it works
The rule comes from a SEBI circular dated 9 August 2023, which brought the timeline down from the earlier T+6 working days. SEBI has separately proposed the same T+3 cut for the listing of debt securities and non-convertible redeemable preference shares, optional from 1 November 2024 and permanent for all such listings from 1 November 2025.
Compressing six working days into three is only possible because most of the steps run in parallel, on a tight published timetable:
| Milestone | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Issue closes (retail/other reserved categories) | T day, 5 p.m. |
| Final certificates from SCSBs | T day, by 7.30–9.30 p.m. depending on channel |
| Rejections finalised, basis of allotment prepared | Before 6 p.m., T+1 |
| Basis of allotment approved by the exchange | Before 9 p.m., T+1 |
| Fund transfer/unblocking instructions issued | T+2, completing by 2–4 p.m. |
| Corporate action for credit of shares | T+2, completed by 6 p.m. |
| Listing application filed with exchanges | T+2, by 7.30 p.m. |
| Trading starts | T+3 |
A worked example
Sarovar Foods Ltd's IPO closes on Friday (T day). Applying the T+3 timetable:
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| T day | Issue closes 5 p.m.; SCSBs submit final certificates by evening |
| T+1 | Basis of allotment finalised and approved by 9 p.m. |
| T+2 | Funds debited/unblocked; shares credited via corporate action; listing application filed with NSE and BSE by 7.30 p.m. |
| T+3 | Trading begins |
An investor allotted 150 shares at Rs 610 sees them credited to her demat account on T+2 and can place her first sell order the very next trading session, T+3 — under the old T+6 regime the same investor would have waited three extra working days before the shares were even tradeable.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 7, section 7.6, and Chapter 10, section 10.5. Expect the T+3 figure itself, the date it took effect from (circular of 9 August 2023, superseding T+6), and the extension of the same principle to debt securities from 1 November 2025.
Common exam traps
- T is the issue-closing date, not the issue-opening date. All the "+" days count from closure.
- T+3 replaced T+6 — a question that states the old figure as current is testing whether the candidate has the update.
- The debt-securities T+3 timeline is a separate, later rollout (optional from November 2024, permanent from November 2025) — do not assume it applied from the same August 2023 date as the equity rule.
- The detailed hour-by-hour timetable is examinable for sequence, not for memorising every clock time — know what happens on T, T+1, T+2 and T+3, in that order.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series II-ARelated terms
- Confirmation Allocation NoteThe intimation an anchor investor or a fixed-price applicant receives confirming the shares allotted to them in a public issue — the allotment counterpart to a refund order.
- Listing agreementThe agreement a company signs with a stock exchange fixing its ongoing disclosure duties — board-meeting notices, 15-minute intimation of price-sensitive proceedings, and minimum public shareholding.
- UPI mandateThe block-fund authorisation a retail investor confirms in a UPI app to apply for a public issue, for values up to Rs 5 lakh — accepted by 5 p.m. on issue-closing day, unblocked within T+2 days if not allotted.