The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has approved DoT's plan to impose a three-year lock-in on equity sales by companies that had acquired unified access service (UAS) licences in 2008. The lockin clause, recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), may apply to Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Aircel, which were given additional licences to operate in new service areas last year, while it may not affect companies that had issued fresh share capital to strategic domestic investors and foreign operators.