The intermediary plays an important role in accessing e-Government services on behalf of the citizens, introducing a concept of indirect adoption. In e-Government research, which is a phenomenon for more than the last two decades, there are no apparent theoretical mechanisms to understand indirect adoption in the Indian context. Also, the existing indirect adoption theories are narrow in scope. This study investigates the factors influencing indirect adoption (i.e., adoption via intermediaries) of e-Government services. Grounded theory approach using forty-seven semi-structured interviews is used to propose a theoretical model for indirect e-Government adoption. The proposed model has thirteen factors, out of which access convenience to intermediary, intermediaries’ service charge, risk-averse characteristics, and value-added services are novel factors in the context of e-Government adoption. The study also found some variables moderating the relationship between some of these factors and indirect adoption. While busy lifestyle, cost rationality, resistant to change, and technophobia moderate the relation between intermediaries’ service charge and indirect adoption intention, voluntary usage context was identified to moderate the relationship between lack of resources, lack of computer self-efficacy, perceived difficulty-to-use, lack of multilingual option and indirect adoption intention. The study advances the understanding of indirect e-Government adoption. The findings have potential implications for public administrators and policymakers. As the objective of qualitative research is to obtain an in-depth understanding rather than generalizations, this study draws reasonable conclusion from the small sample. However, further study is required to test the model and for generalizations.

中介机构在代表公民获取电子政务服务方面发挥着重要作用，引入了间接采用的概念。电子政务研究是过去二十多年的一种现象，在印度背景下，没有明显的理论机制来理解间接采用。此外，现有的间接采用理论范围狭窄。本研究调查了影响电子政务服务间接采用（即通过中介机构采用）的因素。使用四十七个半结构化访谈的扎根理论方法提出了间接电子政务采用的理论模型。所提出的模型有十三个因素，其中中介机构的访问便利性、中介机构的服务费用、风险规避特征和增值服务是电子政务采用背景下的新因素。该研究还发现一些变量调节了其中一些因素与间接采用之间的关系。虽然忙碌的生活方式、成本理性、对变革的抵制和技术恐惧调节了中介服务费和间接采用意愿之间的关系，但自愿使用环境被确定可以调节资源缺乏、计算机自我效能感缺乏、感知难度之间的关系。使用、缺乏多语言选项和间接采用意图。该研究增进了对间接电子政务采用的理解。研究结果对公共管理者和政策制定者具有潜在影响。由于定性研究的目的是获得深入了解而不是一概而论，因此本研究从小样本中得出了合理的结论。然而，需要进一步研究来测试模型并进行概括。