The proposal, which would reduce the HRT budget by one quarter, has prompted journalists working at the national broadcaster to demand that Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic and Finance Minister Ivan Suker step down.
The proposal to cut the HRT subscription fee was prepared by the Culture Ministry.
Journalist Goran Rotim told reporters that he saw the proposal as an attempt by the government "to install its rulers" at the HRT.
Nikola Kristic, representing the HND branch, said the case was connected with the procedure to amend the HRT legislation which he said was aimed at ushering in political control over the national broadcaster.
Kristic said that the proposal to cut the subscription fee could also be viewed as an attempt to undermine the HRT to the benefit "of other players".
"If reports on the merger of HRT, Hina (news agency) and Vjesnik (newspaper) are added to this, it all starts resembling a cheap sale of state goods," said Sanja Segedin Miriovsky, head of the trade union of HRT journalists.
HRT Assistant Director General Marija Nemcic said that all they were asking of the government was to comply with the Amsterdam Protocol requesting the authorities to ensure editorial and financial independence of public televisions.
A possible reduction of the HRT subscription fee would affect not only HRT workers but also independent producers, film-makers and the composers association ZAMP, a professional service that protects music copyrights.
Damir Kajin, a parliamentarian representing the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS), joined in the criticism of the announced cut in the HRT subscription fee.
He warned that the government's moves were grist to the mill of commercial broadcasters and that they could lead to the shut-down of the national broadcaster.
Kajin holds that "the struggle for the HRT's survival means the struggle for democracy," and called for eradicating servility at the HRT and media in general.
The Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU) called the proposal as yet another proof of the government's incompetence.
Several associations today also raised their voice against the announced cut in the HRT monthly subscription fee, claiming that it could endanger the HRT's survival and autonomy.
The Croatian Producers' Association sent an open letter to Minister Biskupic, warning him that the reduction would be an act of selling national cultural assets. The association of film-makers joined in the criticism.