Functions of chamber of commerce

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry was formed as an association of business and industrial houses to promote and protect their common interest and goals. There are other chambers also like ASSOCHAM, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). These chambers interact with the government at different levels to reorient or put in place polices which reduce hindrances, increase interstate movement of goods in internal trade.
The chambers also aims at erecting sound infrastructure and simplying and harmonising the tax strcuture. They work for the following issues:
1. Transportation or Inter-state movement of goods : They work for many activities involved in inter-state movement of goods including registration of vehicles, surface transport policies, construction of highways and roads etc.
2. Octroi and other local levies : Octroi and local taxes are the important sources of revenue of the local government. The chambers tries to should ensure that their imposition not at the cost of smooth transportation and local trade.
3. Harmonisation of sales tax structure and Value Added Tax : These Chambers play an important role in interacting with the government to harmonise the sales tax structure in different states. A rational strcuture of the sales tax and its unifrom rates across states are important for promoting a balance in trade.
4. Marketing of agro products and related issues : The associations of agriculturists and other federations play an important role in the marketing of agro products. Chambers of Commerce helps in streamlining of local subsidies and marketing policies of organisations selling agro products.