Commercially available voltage regulator IC’s can deliver up to 1A output current. For example 78xx series regulators are available in different voltage ratings, but in any case the current should not exceed 1A.
The transistor Q1 (2N 29055) used here has 5A current capacity. The resistor R1 is used to keep the current through regulator IC below 300mA. When the current through R1 increases the base current of Q1 (2N 29055) also increases &the load required load current flows through this transistor. By this way a current greater than the capacity of the regulator IC can be delivered to the load. The C1 is used to filter the ripples off the rectifier output.