Abstract In this paper, we argue that our understanding of the concept of ‘e-service’ is incomplete and that this inadequate understanding blurs important differences between distinct types of interaction between a government and its citizens. This in turn creates difficulties when assessing the quality of ‘e-services’, as we cannot specify precisely what we are measuring. Based on a literature review, we argue that it is neither feasible nor fruitful to provide an unambiguous, precise understanding of the concept of e-service. However, in our context, ‘e-services’ is understood as a sequence of digital interactions between a service provider and service receiver which add some value to the receiver. We will accordingly inquire into the ‘e-service’ concept and examine its distinct types of communication in order to provide a better understanding of its basic characteristics. As a result, we outline a framework for categorizing the different types of digital communication that are denoted ‘e-services’ by identifying their basic service elements. This framework will also help to specify their distinct quality dimensions. We can thereby identify and model various types of interaction between citizens and public agencies based on a consistent set of service elements. As an illustration of its usefulness, we describe one of the life event services in the EU eGovernment benchmark framework in terms of our framework, including its quality dimensions.