Some services in India are digital. Some aren't.
We research and publish the gaps in India's last-mile digital governance. Services that work online until the last step, where they break — tax online, penalty offline; portal exists, gateway broken; “faceless” service, biometrics still in person.
The shape of most Indian digital services
Current Investigation / 001
Why Punjab commercial vehicle owners still pay late-tax penalty at a counter
Punjab allows commercial vehicle owners to pay road tax online, but the penalty for late payment is still computed manually by a District Transport Office clerk and paid in person. For a digitised revenue stream, the final step requires a counter visit.
Karnataka, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh digitised the same penalty computation years ago. We filed 7 RTIs to understand why Punjab hasn't, and what it would take to fix.
Status: 7 RTIs filed · Responses awaited
Recent Publications
The last mile of building plan approval. A six-state review.
Building plan approval portals exist in most states, but the final stamp still requires a site visit by a municipal official in at least five of them.
Offline by design: how Punjab keeps late-tax penalty at a counter.
Punjab allows commercial vehicle owners to pay road tax online, but the penalty for late payment is computed manually and paid in person.
Property mutation, stamp duty refunds, and citizen costs.
Where the stamp duty refund still requires a counter visit in ten states, and what that costs the average citizen over a year.
Last-Mile Tracker
Where five everyday public services break at the last step, across eight Indian states.
State
- Commercial Vehicle Tax
- OFFLINE
- Stamp Duty Refund
- OFFLINE
- Property Mutation
- PARTIAL
- Trade Licence
- PARTIAL
- Building Plan Approval
- OFFLINE
● ONLINE·◐ PARTIAL·○ OFFLINE
How We Work
Every investigation follows this chain. Some stop at publish. Some go to court.
Press citations will appear here as they accumulate.
Monthly Digest
One email a month. Research, investigations, and updates.