Hindustani Interpreter Services

Prism Linguistics provides Hindustani interpreter services UK-wide, by telephone, by video or in person. Hindustani is the shared spoken base of Hindi and Urdu, so before booking we find out which script the speaker reads, which words they use at home and what the appointment is for, then send an interpreter who works in that register.

Get a Hindustani interpreter quote or call +44 (0) 20 3880 6688

• UK-wide Hindustani cover
• Face-to-face, telephone or video
• Fixed quote, usually within the hour (office hours)
• Published price ranges
• Since 2017

Settings we interpret in NHS and private healthcare · courts and tribunals · police · local authorities · solicitors · businesses · private appointments

How we work UK GDPR · client terms · published price ranges · purchase-order invoicing for NHS and public bodies

Hindustani has no line of its own in the 2021 Census main-language table for England and Wales. The census counted Hindi and Urdu separately instead: 269,849 people gave Urdu as their main language and 51,260 gave Hindi, 321,109 between the two. How many of them would call their speech Hindustani is unknowable from those rows, and we won't guess. They do show the population a request for a Hindustani interpreter comes from.

The word has constitutional standing too. Article 351 of the Constitution of India tells the Union to enrich Hindi with the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani, while Article 343 makes Hindi in Devanagari script the Union's official language. Across the border, Article 251 of the Constitution of Pakistan names Urdu as the national language. One spoken base, then, under two standards and two scripts; working out which one a given speaker needs is the real job behind a Hindustani booking.

Hindustani interpreting services: face-to-face, telephone and video

Hindustani interpreting services supply a professional interpreter who carries a spoken conversation between English and everyday Hindi-Urdu, in the room, on the phone or over video, choosing the words the listener actually uses rather than the formal vocabulary of either standard. As with our other interpreting services, most of it is consecutive: short turns, a pause, then the rendering.

Why ask for Hindustani rather than Hindi or Urdu? Usually because the speaker, or whoever referred them, said that is what they speak. A grandmother raised by one parent schooled in Hindi and another schooled in Urdu might say it. So might a speaker of Dakhini, a variety that Glottolog files under both Hindi and Urdu, or a man whose Caribbean grandparents called their language Hindustani. Each needs a slightly different match, so treat the label as a starting point.

English to Hindustani interpreter (and Hindustani to English)

An English to Hindustani interpreter also works Hindustani to English in the same session, so you book one person for both directions. The awkward choices mostly arise going into Hindustani. Medical and legal English rarely has one plain equivalent, and the interpreter has to decide between a Sanskrit-derived term familiar to someone schooled in Hindi and a Persian- or Arabic-derived one familiar to someone schooled in Urdu. Often the ordinary word both share, or the English loanword the patient already uses, works best, followed by a quick check that it landed.

Coming back into English, the stakes are about the record. GOV.UK guidance on language interpretation for health professionals says a professional interpreter should always be offered in place of family or friends, that children should not interpret, and that the patient's preferred language should be recorded with its dialect. Hindi/Urdu on a referral drops the very detail a booking needs.

Hindustani court interpreters and HMCTS work

A Hindustani court interpreter renders each question, answer and ruling completely and impartially, so a defendant, witness or party can follow proceedings and give evidence. Who books depends on the court. GOV.UK's page on interpreters at court or tribunal says a criminal defendant is given one, prosecution witnesses get one through the prosecuting agency and defence witnesses go through the defence solicitor. Family courts provide an interpreter where a case involves children, domestic violence or forced marriage, and civil courts do so for possession and committal hearings. A friend or relative can interpret only if the judge agrees in advance.

A court or tribunal will expect a named language on the request. If your client has said Hindustani, work out before the listing whether a Hindi or an Urdu interpreter fits better, put that on the form, and ask for someone comfortable with plain, mixed speech. Conferences with counsel, proofing, private family disputes and employment claims are arranged by the parties, and we cover them through our legal interpreting service. Prism Linguistics is a private language-services provider and does not present itself as a court-appointed supplier.

Hindustani interpreters for NHS, police, solicitors, councils and business

These are the settings where the Hindi-or-Urdu question bites hardest, starting with healthcare.

Hindustani NHS interpreter: GP and community health

Medication reviews, diabetes checks and health visitor contacts. NHS England's guidance for commissioners of primary-care interpreting says patients should not be asked to pay for interpreting or to provide their own interpreter.

Hindustani medical interpreter: consent and discharge

Reading an English consent form or discharge letter aloud is sight translation, and it should come out in spoken Hindustani, not textbook Hindi or formal Urdu. Ask beforehand whether the patient reads Devanagari, the Urdu script, both or neither.

Mental health and memory clinics

An older speaker who mixes Hindi and Urdu words freely can seem less articulate than they are if the interpreter keeps tidying their speech into one standard. The clinician needs to hear it as it was said.

Hindustani police interpreter

Under PACE Code C, when someone makes a statement under caution in a language other than English, the interpreter records it in that language and the person is invited to sign it, with an official English translation made later. For a Hindustani speaker that raises a practical question, which script, and it should be settled with the person at the outset. More on police interpreting.

Solicitors, immigration advisers and councils

Taking instructions, reading a statement back before signature, social care assessments and school meetings.

Business

Less frequent than public-service work, but meetings, site visits and staff consultations do come up, and business interpreting covers them.

Face-to-face, telephone or video: which one fits?

For Hindustani, the deciding factor is often how much reading the session involves, not only how serious it is. A Hindustani telephone interpreter handles a quick call where nothing is read. Video interpreting suits most clinic and solicitor appointments, and the speaker can watch the interpreter's face when a word needs a second attempt. If papers will be gone through line by line, or several relatives will be in the room, book a face-to-face interpreter.

Hindustani interpreting modes at a glance

Mode	Best for	Typical notice
Hindustani telephone interpreter	Booking checks, test results, a pharmacy query, a short call to find out whether Hindi or Urdu suits the speaker.	Often the same day, subject to availability
Hindustani video interpreter	Outpatient follow-ups, solicitor conferences, remote hearings, speakers living far from the larger South Asian communities.	Same day or next working day, subject to availability
Hindustani face-to-face interpreter	Trials, interviews under caution, capacity meetings, anything with documents to be read aloud.	Usually two or three working days; longer away from the big cities

Lead times for Hindustani bookings

Hindustani assignments are filled from the much larger Hindi and Urdu interpreter pools, so cover follows those communities. At the 2021 Census London had 63,626 Urdu and 20,485 Hindi main-language residents and the North West 59,429 Urdu speakers, against 3,174 Urdu and 2,114 Hindi in the South West. In-person cover is easiest in London, the Midlands and the North West, and thinner in the South West and North East. The usual cause of delay is simpler: nobody has asked the speaker which way they lean.

Qualified, professional Hindustani interpreters: what to look for

An interpreter's qualifications will name a language, so for Hindustani the useful questions are which one it names and how comfortable the interpreter is in the other half of the pair. Put these to any agency or freelance interpreter:

A DPSI, and in which language?

The Level 6 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting is awarded by CIOL Qualifications and regulated by Ofqual. CIOL's DPSI page notes that some languages run only when enough candidates register, so ask which language and specialism the certificate covers.

A place on the NRPSI

The National Register of Public Service Interpreters sets entry criteria for qualification and experience. Ask whether the interpreter is registered and under which language.

Enhanced DBS where needed

Custody suites, wards and work with children commonly require one; the DBS eligibility guidance on GOV.UK explains which roles qualify.

Both registers, and both scripts

Ask how the interpreter handles a speaker who mixes Hindi and Urdu vocabulary, and whether they read Devanagari and the Urdu script if anything will be sight translated.

Recent experience of your setting

Ask what the interpreter did most recently, not what they could do.

For our part, the Hindustani interpreters we assign are professionally qualified and background-checked. Court work goes to court-experienced interpreters, with Enhanced DBS in place where the setting requires it.

Hindustani dialects and varieties: why it matters at booking

Hindustani is better thought of as a cluster of closely related speech than as one dialect, which is why the booking question is which form, not merely which language. Glottolog treats Hindustani as a group containing four languages, Hindi, Urdu, Fiji Hindi and Andaman Creole Hindi, with Dakhini listed as a dialect under both Hindi and Urdu. Conversation between Hindi and Urdu speakers mostly flows; the distance opens up in formal and technical vocabulary and in writing, Devanagari for Hindi and a Perso-Arabic script for Urdu.

Two other groups use the name. People from Fiji speak Fiji Hindi, which has its own page: see Fijian Hindi interpreter services. People whose families came from Guyana, Suriname or Trinidad and Tobago may speak Caribbean Hindustani, which Glottolog classifies under Bhojpuri rather than in the Hindi-Urdu group, recording it in those three countries and the Netherlands. And if the speaker plainly leans one way, the specific page fits better: Hindi interpreter services for someone schooled in Devanagari, Urdu interpreter services for someone who reads Urdu. Hindustani is the right booking when the person moves between the two, or you can't yet tell.

How to book or hire a Hindustani interpreter

Tell us the brief

Give us the date, venue or video link, type of appointment and expected length, what the person calls their language, whether they read the Hindi script, the Urdu script or neither, and any wish for a female or male interpreter.

We match and price

We agree with you whether a Hindi-leaning or Urdu-leaning interpreter suits, find one with experience of the setting, and send a fixed price, normally within the hour during UK office hours.

Confirm and the interpreter attends

Once you approve, the interpreter is briefed on the setting and on any documents to be read aloud, then attends or joins the call; individuals pay by card, and public bodies and firms are invoiced.

Book a Hindustani interpreter

Find a Hindustani interpreter near me: cities and towns across the UK

A Hindustani interpreter near you can be booked anywhere in the UK; the Hindi and Urdu census rows show where in-person need clusters. Harrow had almost equal numbers in 2021, 1,823 Hindi and 1,866 Urdu main-language residents, exactly the sort of borough where an interpreter at home in both is useful. Hounslow recorded 2,654 Hindi and 4,160 Urdu speakers, Leicester 2,252 and 3,332, Hillingdon 1,926 and 3,237. Birmingham (25,131 Urdu, 1,475 Hindi) and Manchester (17,572 Urdu, 724 Hindi) lean strongly towards Urdu, as do Redbridge and Newham. Scotland and Northern Ireland ran separate censuses; we take bookings there as well, frequently by video.

How much does a Hindustani interpreter cost in the UK?

Hindustani interpreter fees turn on five things: mode, duration, how much notice you give, travel, and the kind of setting. Under the prices we publish for 2026, an interpreter in person costs £40 to £75 per hour, travel on top, for at least two hours (court bookings, three); by phone it is £1.10 to £2.50 per minute, and a half-hour video session runs £60 to £120. Because these bookings draw on the large Hindi and Urdu pools, Hindustani is not priced as a rare language, and a planned weekday appointment in a large city need not sit at the top of the range. Ask for a Hindustani interpreter quote and we reply with a fixed price, normally within the hour during UK office hours.

If the appointment is with the NHS, the surgery or clinic should book and fund the interpreter, so ask them first.

Confidentiality and GDPR for Hindustani interpreting

Whatever a Hindustani interpreter hears on an assignment stays private, and we process personal data under UK GDPR. In boroughs where Hindi and Urdu speakers are numerous, a client may fear bumping into the interpreter on the high street or at a family function. Say so when booking and we can look for someone from outside the area, or use video instead. Relatives waiting outside are told nothing.

Need a Hindustani translator instead?

Interpreting covers speech. Written material is translated into Hindi or into Urdu, the two written standards, so a letter or report needs that choice made too. See Hindustani translation services, Hindustani document translation or the Hindustani language services page for everything we offer.

Hindustani interpreting FAQs

How much does a Hindustani interpreter cost in the UK?

Our published 2026 guide prices a Hindustani interpreter in person at £40 to £75 an hour plus travel, with a two-hour minimum or three hours for court, telephone work at £1.10 to £2.50 a minute and video at £60 to £120 per 30-minute session. Send the details and we return a fixed price, normally within the hour during UK office hours. NHS patients should not be charged for interpreting.

How quickly can you book a Hindustani interpreter?

A Hindustani telephone or video interpreter can often be found on the same day, subject to availability. In-person bookings usually need two or three working days in London, the Midlands and the North West, and longer elsewhere.

Are your Hindustani interpreters qualified for court and tribunal work?

Yes. For hearings we send court-experienced Hindustani interpreters, all professionally qualified and background-checked, and you can ask which language their qualification names and whether they are on the NRPSI. Prism Linguistics is a private provider, not a court-appointed supplier.

Do you provide Hindustani interpreters for NHS appointments?

Yes, for GP surgeries, hospital clinics, maternity, mental health and memory services, in person or remotely. NHS teams can book and be invoiced. A family can also ask the NHS service itself to arrange one, since patients are not meant to pay for interpreting.

Can I book a Hindustani interpreter by telephone or video?

Yes. Telephone works for short calls where nothing has to be read, and video for longer appointments where the speaker benefits from seeing the interpreter.

Should I book a Hindustani, Hindi or Urdu interpreter?

If the speaker reads and was schooled in Hindi, book Hindi; if in Urdu, book Urdu. Book Hindustani when the person mixes the two freely or you are not yet sure, and we will check with you before choosing the interpreter.

Can I request a female Hindustani interpreter?

Yes. Mention it when booking and we confirm a female Hindustani interpreter in advance, subject to availability. It can matter a great deal in maternity care or when someone is describing abuse.

Do you interpret both Hindustani to English and English to Hindustani?

Yes. One interpreter covers both directions throughout the session, putting the speaker's words into English and everything said to them into Hindustani, without summarising.

About the Hindustani language

Hindustani is the umbrella name for the closely related spoken varieties that include Hindi and Urdu, and Glottolog groups Fiji Hindi and Andaman Creole Hindi with them. The 2021 Census for England and Wales has no Hindustani category, so its speakers appear in those figures as Hindi or Urdu speakers; on paper, it is almost always one or the other.