The government is set to treble the merger fees charged to companies by the competition authorities - and then double them again by 2009.

Competition minister Gerry Sutcliffe says the fees have not been amended since their introduction in 1990, and that it is the responsibility of the acquiring company, and not the taxpayer, to foot the bill.

“We believe it is right that the costs of controlling mergers are met by the companies concerned,” he said. “In future we will review fee levels every three years to ensure they remain appropriate to recover the costs of regulating mergers.”

The fees will rise from £5,000 to £15,000 where the company being acquired is worth £20m or less, and from £10,000 to £30,000 where the value is between £20m and £70m.

Fees for companies worth more than £70m will be increased to £45,000, with all the changes coming into force on 6 April.

All these fees will then be doubled again by 6 April 2009, although small firms (worth less than £11.4m) will be exempt.