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Despite government listings of more than 700 digital public services, none operates as a fully automated, 100 percent end-to-end online service, according to a national survey by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
The findings were presented at an advocacy dissemination event titled “Establishing Effective and Accountable E-Governance” in Dhaka on Monday.
CPD Executive Director Dr Nazneen Ahmed, Research Fellow Tamim Ahmed and Research Associate Sabiha Sharmin presented the study findings. Supported by the European Union, Canada and Switzerland, the research collected primary data from 2,611 citizens and 297 local government field offices across Bangladesh.
The report identified a significant gap between the design of digital services and their actual delivery. Citizens are often required to visit government offices in person to submit physical documents, collect stamped certificates, pay fees or pursue administrative processes.
Only 31.9 percent of female respondents and 43.8 percent of young service seekers said they were able to complete their administrative requirements entirely online. Among women, 38 percent said only the initial application form had been digitised, while the rest of the process remained manual. The survey also found that 6.6 percent of respondents had to pay bribes to obtain public services.
The study also highlighted serious concerns over personal data protection and cybersecurity. Some 73.2 percent of female respondents expressed concern about personal data leaks or cyberattacks, while 61 percent said they had experienced privacy breaches through unsolicited calls and messages after submitting their contact details through digital service forms.
Local government field offices scored only 38.9 out of 100 in CPD’s E-Governance Preparedness Index, while physical and network infrastructure received a particularly low score of 24.1.
The assessment found that 44 percent of computers at Union Agriculture Offices were non-functional, while 97 percent of the offices lacked electrical backup systems such as generators or IPS. Another 93 percent had no secondary internet connection, and more than 90 percent operated without formal cybersecurity standard operating procedures (SOPs).
To address these shortcomings, CPD recommended introducing a “One Digital Member per Household” capacity-building initiative and ensuring complete paperless, end-to-end digitisation from application submission to certificate issuance.
It also recommended using data masking and pseudonymisation to protect women’s sensitive contact information and establishing a unified, single-portal “No Wrong Door” system to simplify access to government services.
