The Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) is filed with SEBI after the DRHP has cleared the observation process. The RHP is the legally binding offer document under which the public subscription is conducted. It incorporates the SEBI-mandated changes from the DRHP review and adds the final commercial terms: price band, exact issue size, lot size, key dates, and BRLM and registrar appointments.
Reading the RHP rather than just the DRHP matters because important business details often change between the two — financials are updated, related-party transactions are added or removed, and risk factors are sharpened. Anchor allocations are disclosed in a separate filing one day before the issue opens.
The RHP is the document the BRLM and the registrar reference for every operational decision: who is eligible, how allotment is calculated, what constitutes a valid bid, and where refunds are routed. Investors who skim the front matter and skip the risk-factors section are skipping the most useful part of any IPO research workflow.