India mobile finance company Paytm stepped-up promotion of its Payments Bank savings product after regulators lifted a ban on the company signing-up new customers.

To mark the expiry of its ban on 31 December, Paytm took out advertisements in the country’s newspapers announcing it was now able to sign-up new users to the service and complete the appropriate know your customer checks.

The service originally launched in November 2017, but was ordered to stop recruiting new users in June after a Reserve Bank of India audit reportedly found it had violated its terms of operation. Paytm, however, was permitted to continue serving existing users.

Payments Banks are one of a number of government initiatives to promote financial inclusion and reduce the reliance on physical cash. The Reserve Bank of India oversees the operation and licencing of companies providing the services, which are designed to promote regular saving.

Other providers of the accounts include India Post and mobile operator Airtel through a specific subsidiary.

Paytm is not alone in falling foul of regulations. Airtel Payments Bank was forced to suspend new customer sign-ups for most of the first five months of 2018 after being found to have breached data collection rules.