Trade bodies and door supervisors fear plans for a 29% hike in door staff licences could deter people from starting the job.
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has been urged to reconsider plans to increase licence application fees from £190 to £245 from 6 April.
Renewal fees for the licences, which last three years, will also rise from £190 to £245 under the plan, included in a new Home Office report.
The Home Office said the increase is needed for the SIA to be self-funding, as income from licensing has been "less than expected".
British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) chief executive John McNamara said: "This decision will have a huge impact on individual door supervisors and the whole industry. New entrants to door supervision will be faced with a huge licence fee in addition to training costs.
"The industry has been working hard to increase the professionalism of this sector and I am concerned that this move will put off potential responsible people from entering door supervision.
He added: "I strongly urge the SIA to reconsider their decision and look at increasing the cost in line with inflation, if at all."
Bar Entertainment & Dance Association executive director Paul Smith said: "I can't see why the fee has to be upped by 29%. I'm sure those costs could have been factored in by Government."
A spokesman for the Working The Doors lobby group, which represents door staff, said: "With these new price increases, how many more valued door supervisors will we lose because they simply cannot afford or will not pay an increase of 29%?
"The Working the Doors lobby group demands that the Home Secretary and SIA chief executive reconsider this issue immediately."
Under the plan, which will now be considered by ministers, applications received before 6 April will be processed at the current fee. The SIA intends to review the fee annually.
the financial shortfall behind fee increases
A Home Office report points to "poor and unreliable original data" about the number of door staff working the UK, which has led to the shortfall in the SIA's funding.
SIA spokesman Robert Buxton said: "The figures we were given were wrong. People were telling us that 86,000 door supervisors were working and that has proven not to be the case."
The Home Office report shows the SIA's bank balance was in the red by more than £500,000 for 2005/06, despite receiving a Government grant of £2.5m that year.
If fees increase as planned, the SIA will be in the black by almost £80,000 by 2009.
Senior SIA staff chose not to disclose their salaries in the group's most recent annual accounts.
The salaries of chief executive John Saunders and three other senior employees were all withheld from the SIA's Annual Report and Accounts for 2004/05.
The figures do show that chairman Peter Hermitage was paid £56,707, with travel expenses of £10,383.
Overall employment costs were £6,018,245 in 2005/06, up from a total of £5,451,628 in 2004/05 and £4,324,248 in 2003/04.
Most recent accounts are due this month.