01 January 2012
It was like an account payee cheque where investors actually could buy them from an issuing bank that was participating in a primary market issue. The money remained in the investors account until the allotments were made and only then were the investors' accounts debited.
Now, this scheme was put in place to prevent promoters from delaying allotments or refunds.
Do take a prospectus and see in the prospectus an option known as ASBA. ASBA stands for Application supported Blocked amount.
In short, till ur alloted the shares in the IPO ur account wont get debited. Also u cant use the cheque amount issued since that would be kept aside for the IPO.