Legal challenges for M-governance in developing countries: a comparison of India and South Africa

The meteoric rise in mobile phone subscription in India and South Africa provides a strong base for using mobile telephony as an alternative or in conjunction with e-governance. Such a use of mobile technology is also known as m-governance. India and South Africa are likely to face several challenges with the adoption of mgovernance, one being legal challenges. Even though the Indian Information Technology Act and the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act would resolve some of these challenges, it will not fully address the complex range of issues involving mobile communication. This paper aims to specifically focus on the legal variable of m-governance in light of the social and digital divide issue of e-governance within the Indian and South African contexts.