Interpreting bungle costs 2.7 billion rupees
Now we all know the importance of clear, concise and above all accurate translations…after all, the consequences of an error in the translation of a document could have serious repercussions. Imagine then, being the interpreter who cost your Government a whopping 2.7 billion as was the case recently in India.
The Controller and Auditor General of the Indian State of Maharashtra recently reported to the State Assembly that just such a translation error was responsible for the undercharging of Stamp Duty concessions to the tune of that exact amount. Apparently, two versions of the rules pertaining to this concession were issued; one in English and the other in Marathi, the State’s official language. Unfortunately, something seems to have been lost in translation, leading to the massive error.
As it happens and as anyone familiar with India will attest, the country’s often used, old fashioned monetary vocabulary often do not help in matters of conversion and translation between English and the Indian languages. For instance everyone is familiar with the Indian Rupee, but in India, RS 100,000 is known as a Lakh; there are 10 Lakhs to a Crore, so each Crore is 1,000,000 Rupees and also 10 Lakhs. Now these terms are often used interchangeably so leading to confusion…additionally though, decimal expressions of these terms are often used such as 10.2 Crore or 5.75 Lakhs, further leading to translational woes.
Not that these matters will now worry the unfortunate interpreter whose error led to his government’s losses. Whilst before the incident his salary might have been reckoned as perhaps 0.5 of a Lakh per annum, it is now probably to be reckoned at zero rupees per annum…fortunately, zero is not so easy to mis-translate!