Record Date vs Ex-Dividend Date: What Decides If You Get Paid
Two dates sit on every dividend announcement, and only one of them decides whether the money reaches your bank account. The dividend record date and ex-dividend date used to fall on different days in India, which is where most of the confusion comes from: older articles, old broker screenshots and old habits all describe a one-day gap that no longer exists for most announcements. Since India completed its move to T+1 settlement in January 2023, the two dates generally fall on the same day on NSE and BSE—yet the purchase cutoff that actually decides entitlement is still a day earlier than many buyers assume.
This guide walks through what each date does, why the gap existed under T+2, why T+1 collapsed it, and exactly which purchase date carries the dividend—using dates verified against company exchange filings, not invented examples.
The four dates on a dividend timeline
A dividend passes through four public dates. Here they are alongside ITC’s final dividend for FY2025-26, whose details the company reported to the exchanges in May 2026.
| Date | What happens | ITC final dividend FY26 (verified) |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration date | The board announces the proposed dividend | 21 May 2026: board proposes ₹8 per share |
| Ex-dividend date | The stock starts trading without the entitlement | Wednesday, 27 May 2026 |
| Record date | The company fixes the list of eligible holders | Wednesday, 27 May 2026—the same day |
| Payment date | Cash is dispatched to eligible holders | 24–29 July 2026, after the 23 July AGM |
Two things stand out. First, the ex-date and record date are the same day—that is now the normal pattern, and the next section explains why. Second, the payment arrives roughly two months after the record date. A final dividend needs shareholder approval at the AGM before it is formally declared, and the Companies Act, 2013 then allows up to 30 days from declaration for payment. ITC’s AGM was scheduled for 23 July 2026, with payment between 24 and 29 July, per the company’s announcement. An interim dividend skips the AGM step, which is why interim payouts usually land faster.
What each date actually does
The record date belongs to the company. On that day the company takes the list of beneficial owners from the depositories—NSDL and CDSL—and everyone on that list receives the dividend. Nothing that happens on the exchange that day changes the list, because a trade executed on the record date has not settled yet. The fuller mechanics of that register are covered in Gale’s companion piece on what a dividend record date is.
The ex-dividend date belongs to the exchange. It is the first trading day on which a buyer no longer receives the announced dividend. NSE and BSE publish it for every corporate action, and it is derived from one question: what is the last trading day on which a delivery purchase still settles in time to appear on the register on the record date?
That derivation is the whole relationship between the two dates. The record date is the legal cutoff; the ex-date is the trading translation of it. Change the settlement cycle and the translation changes with it.
Why the ex-date used to come one day earlier
Under the old T+2 cycle, shares bought on Monday were credited to the buyer’s demat account on Wednesday. To be on the register on a Wednesday record date, the purchase had to happen by Monday. So the exchange marked the stock ex-dividend on Tuesday—one working day before the record date.
Infosys’s history shows the old pattern plainly. For its FY2021-22 final dividend of ₹16 per share, the ex-date was Tuesday, 31 May 2022 and the record date was Wednesday, 1 June 2022, as published in the exchange corporate-action records. A buyer on Monday, 30 May settled on Wednesday, 1 June and made the register; a buyer on the ex-date itself settled a day too late. The company’s ₹15 final dividend the previous year followed the same one-day-gap pattern: ex-date 31 May 2021, record date 1 June 2021.
Why T+1 collapsed the two dates
India moved to T+1 settlement in phases, starting with a small set of stocks in February 2022 and finishing with the largest ones on 27 January 2023. From that point, a share bought on Tuesday is credited on Wednesday.
Run the ex-date derivation again with the new cycle. If the record date is Wednesday, a Tuesday buyer settles on Wednesday and makes the register. Only a buyer on Wednesday itself misses it. The first day of trading without entitlement is therefore the record date itself—so the ex-date and the record date land on the same day. Broker documentation, including Zerodha’s corporate-actions support material, states the same rule: with all instruments on T+1, ex-date and record date coincide for corporate actions unless a holiday intervenes.
The same Infosys stock now illustrates the new pattern. For its FY2025-26 final dividend of ₹25 per share, both the ex-date and the record date were Wednesday, 10 June 2026, per the exchange corporate-action records. Same company, same annual ritual—one date where there used to be two.
The exact cutoff: a verified worked example
The collapsed dates hide a detail that still catches people: buying on the ex-date/record date does not earn the dividend. The last day to buy with entitlement is one trading day before it.
Take ITC’s ₹8 final dividend with its record date of Wednesday, 27 May 2026:
| Delivery purchase date | Demat credit under T+1 | On the register on 27 May? | Receives the ₹8? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, 25 May 2026 | Tuesday, 26 May | Yes | Yes |
| Tuesday, 26 May 2026 | Wednesday, 27 May | Yes | Yes |
| Wednesday, 27 May 2026 (ex-date) | Thursday, 28 May | No | No |
The Tuesday buyer is the marginal case: the shares arrive on the record date itself, which still counts, because eligibility is taken from the depositories’ end-of-day position. The Wednesday buyer pays a price that has typically already adjusted downward for the dividend leaving the company—and receives nothing from this particular payout. Equally, a holder who sells on the ex-date keeps the entitlement, because the sale settles after the register is drawn.
This is a description of the plumbing, not a strategy. Buying shortly before an ex-date solely to collect the payout—so-called dividend capture—faces the ex-date price adjustment, brokerage, taxes and market movement, and the arithmetic of it is examined in the dividend-dates section of Gale’s high-paying dividend stocks guide.
Weekends and holidays: when the dates behave oddly
The one-trading-day cutoff spans non-trading days, which produces two situations worth recognising.
A record date on a Monday. Infosys’s ₹23 interim dividend had its ex-date and record date on Monday, 27 October 2025, per the exchange corporate-action records. The last session with entitlement was the previous trading day—Friday, 24 October 2025. A Friday buyer settled on Monday and made the register; nothing that happened over the weekend mattered, because settlement counts trading days, not calendar days. Anyone mentally applying “buy one day before” to the calendar rather than to the trading session would have missed the cutoff by two days.
A holiday between the dates. When a trading or settlement holiday sits immediately around the record date, the exchange sets the ex-date so that the last cum-dividend trade still settles in time. In that situation the ex-date can fall before the record date rather than on it—the same broker documentation that describes the T+1 same-day rule notes this exception explicitly. The practical consequence: the “generally the same day” pattern is a tendency, not a law. The published ex-date for the specific announcement is the figure that governs, and it is the one worth reading rather than reconstructing.
Both cases resolve to one operating rule: the entitlement belongs to whoever’s delivery purchase settles by the record date, and the exchange-published ex-date is the authoritative marker of the cutoff. NSE lists both dates for every announcement on its corporate-actions portal, and gale.in’s live dividend record-date calendar tracks upcoming NSE record dates in one place, updated daily from NSE’s published corporate-action feed.
What the price does on the ex-date
On the ex-date, the share begins trading without a known cash payment attached, so the price typically opens lower by roughly the dividend amount, all else equal. For most Indian dividends the adjustment is small against daily volatility—an ₹8 dividend on a stock trading in the hundreds is within an ordinary day’s range—but for large special dividends the exchanges may formally adjust derivative contracts and price bands. The adjustment is why the record-date mechanics transfer no free value in either direction: the buyer who misses the dividend pays an ex-dividend price, and the holder who receives it holds a share worth correspondingly less at that moment.
FAQ
Are the ex-dividend date and record date the same day in India now?
Generally yes. Since the market completed its transition to T+1 settlement on 27 January 2023, exchanges set the ex-date and record date on the same day for most corporate actions, because a purchase one trading day before the record date now settles in time. A trading holiday around the record date can still separate the two, so the published dates for each specific announcement are the reliable reference.
If shares are bought on the ex-date itself, does the buyer get the dividend?
No. A delivery purchase on the ex-date settles the next trading day, after the company has already drawn its list of eligible holders from the depositories. The last purchase date that carries the entitlement is one trading day before the ex-date/record date—which may be several calendar days earlier when a weekend or holiday intervenes.
If shares are sold on the ex-date, does the seller still get the dividend?
Yes. The seller’s name is still in the depository records on the record date, because the sale settles afterwards. The dividend follows the settled position on the record date, not the trade tape of that morning.
Why does the dividend arrive weeks after the record date?
A final dividend is only proposed by the board; it must be declared by shareholders at the AGM, and the Companies Act, 2013 allows up to 30 days from declaration for payment. ITC’s FY26 final dividend had a 27 May 2026 record date but a payment window of 24–29 July 2026, after its 23 July AGM, per the company’s announcement. Interim dividends are declared directly by the board and therefore usually pay out sooner.
Sources and data notes
- ITC final dividend FY2025-26 (₹8 per share; declared 21 May 2026; ex-date and record date 27 May 2026; payment window 24–29 July 2026): company announcement to the exchanges, as reported in exchange corporate-action records.
- Infosys dividends (₹16 final, ex 31 May 2022 / record 1 June 2022; ₹23 interim, ex and record 27 October 2025; ₹25 final, ex and record 10 June 2026): exchange corporate-action records.
- NSE corporate actions for issuer-reported purposes, ex-dates and record dates.
- T+1 transition timeline (phased from February 2022, completed 27 January 2023): SEBI circular of September 2021 and exchange implementation notices.
- Same-day ex-date/record-date convention and the holiday exception: Zerodha corporate-actions support documentation.
Dates and amounts above are fixed to the filings cited and were checked on 22 August 2026. Any future announcement follows its own published dates; the exchange filing for the specific dividend is the document that governs.
This article is for research and education, not personalised investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. Gale is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser. Dividends and market prices can fall; verify current filings and consider a qualified professional before acting.