The Quality of Digital Public Services in Population Administration in Rural Areas of Indonesia: A Literature Review Using the ServQual Approach

Abstract

Indonesia's public service digital transformation has been reinforced by Presidential Regulation No. 95 of 2018 on Electronic-Based Government Systems (SPBE), yet its implementation in rural areas continues to face infrastructure, institutional, and digital-literacy constraints. This article conceptually examines the quality of digitally based public services in population administration in remote rural areas, using Cisewu Sub-district, Garut Regency, as an illustrative context. The study employs a library research method with a qualitative-descriptive approach and critical content analysis of 23 sources of academic literature, regulations, and policy documents, selected through structured inclusion-exclusion criteria. The analytical framework integrates SERVQUAL theory (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) with digitalization and digital governance theory. The findings indicate that the success of digital population administration services in rural areas is determined by a layered interaction between infrastructure readiness, institutional capacity, and community digital literacy, with the tangibles dimension functioning as a structural precondition. This study formulates the concept of a social compensation mechanism and recommends a hybrid public service model that combines digital services with direct assistance from civil servants as an adaptive strategy for rural regions. The article contributes an integrative SERVQUAL-digital governance conceptual framework that is contextually grounded in the geographic and social conditions of rural Indonesia.