October 7, 2026

Authors : Akshita Bhatt , Ishika Agrawal , Ishita Tripathi , Ishita Khandelwal , Joel Kimanthi

Abstract

Digitalisation is often presented as a way to make public-service delivery more efficient, but greater administrative efficiency does not necessarily mean lower costs for citizens. This paper examines how digital public services can contribute to socioeconomic exclusion through the redistribution of access and transaction costs. Using secondary evidence from India and Kenya, the paper examines how digital requirements interact with unequal resources, accessibility conditions and available support. Across the evidence, barriers involving connectivity, literacy, documentation, authentication and service design can create additional costs for citizens in the form of time, expenditure, effort, repeated attempts and reliance on others. These burdens are uneven and can affect whether access is independent, assisted, burdened or results in exclusion. The evidence differs across the two countries, but in both settings digitalisation can change where the work and costs involved in accessing a service are located. Assessing digital governance therefore requires looking at citizen-side burdens alongside administrative efficiency.

Keywords:
digital governance; digital exclusion; transaction costs; administrative burden; accessibility; socioeconomic inequality