India’s push to digitise citizen services promises faster, transparent delivery, but persistent gaps undermine the benefits. While platforms like Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) have transformed payments and identity verification, many services remain unreliable, insecure, or inaccessible.
Key Developments
- Private firms such as WhatsApp are being piloted to reach citizens in Gujarat.
- Estonia completed full digitisation of divorce in December 2024, highlighting a possible future benchmark for India.
- State‑run portals for property records, marriage registration and the decade‑old e‑Sanad remain under‑utilised or non‑functional.
- Repeated data entry persists despite the existence of DigiLocker.
- Cyber‑security oversight by CERT‑in is deemed inadequate.
Important Facts
• Trust deficit: Citizens doubt the safety of their data, limiting adoption of online services.
• Systemic under‑investment: Many portals suffer from downtime, slow response, and lack of updates.
• Accessibility issues: Interfaces are not designed for persons with disabilities; name‑spelling variations often force users to restart applications.
• Legacy analog processes: Updating details on Aadhaar still requires physical visits, contradicting the digital promise.
• Inter‑governmental gaps: While the Union created UPI and