Record date

The date on which a company checks its register to decide who receives a dividend, a bonus or a rights entitlement.

Its trading counterpart is the ex-date. From that date the share trades without the entitlement, and the price adjusts by roughly the amount being distributed.

A ₹12 dividend on a ₹1,200 share means the share should open about ₹12 lower on the ex-date, and if you hold it, that fall hasn't cost you anything.

India completed its move to T+1 settlement in January 2023 and the US adopted it in May 2024. Under that cycle the ex-date and the record date fall on the same day, so you qualify only by buying on the trading day before the record date or earlier.