Essentiality Countries judge certain service industries to be essential because they serve strategic purposes or provide social assistance to citizens. Governments may prohibit private companies, foreign or domestic, in some sectors because they feel the services should not be sold for profit. In other cases, they set price controls or subsidize government-owned service organizations that create disincentives for foreign private participation. Some essential services in which foreign firms might be excluded are media, communications, banking, utilities, and domestic transport. India has also excluded foreign multi-brand retailers because of the disruption they might cause to local retail establishments.