India, June 6 -- Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said payment of a higher interest rate than the one already disclosed is "not acceptable" to the central Bank.

He, however, declined to comment specifically on a matter involving HDFC Bank, where the largest private sector lender is alleged to have paid an extra sum to garner a big deposit and showed it as a marketing spend.

HDFC Bank has denied the allegation, while there have been reports suggesting that many banks resort to such means to garner deposits.

Addressing the customary post-policy review press conference, Malhotra said the RBI permits differential pricing of deposits, whereby senior citizens may get higher interest rates and the tenor of a deposit may also in...