Licensees could be forced to pay the full price of their public entertainment licences (PELs) during the transition period of licensing reform.
This could mean that licensees would have to pay out thousands of pounds to renew their PELs even though they will be unnecessary once the new licensing regime is implemented.
It is expected that the Licensing Act will come into force in March 2005, but licensees who have to renew their PELs before then could find themselves facing a huge renewal fee, even if the licence will operate only for a short period and not the full 12 months.
This will raise further concerns and confusion within the trade about the inconsistencies between local authorities.
Some councils charge more than £20,000 a year for a PEL, some have strict renewal dates while others allow licensees to renew their licensees on a yearly basis.
Richard Williams, from The Publican's legal team at Joelson Wilson, said: "Some councils will be trying to make applicants pay the whole year's fee.
"But it is dependent on the date the act is fully implemented.
"Licensees will have to make sure that they submit PEL renewals right up to the full introduction of the Licensing Act. There are some councils that will charge whether or not you get the full year licence.
"The government may give an indication to local authorities of how they are supposed to deal with PEL renewal fees."
The British Beer & Pub Association's Mark Hastings said he expected the charges would be pro-rata. "Once the timetable is established we should rightly expect local authorities to respond in that way," he said.
Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations, said: "It all depends on when the new regime comes in and when the details are clarified.
"Licensees would have to renew their licences to get ready for the new regime."
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed it was in discussions with the Local Government Association on how the transition period will work in relation to fees.
Last week it was revealed that publicans will not only have to apply to their local authority for a conversion to a premises licence during 2004, they may also face magistrates for their three-yearly renewals during February and March of the same year.