The planned gas levy causes resentment in the traffic light coalition.
The energy policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Kruse, calls for stricter requirements for companies that want to benefit from the levy.
"It should only support companies that are in a market-threatening imbalance," he told the "Rheinische Post" on Thursday.
"Minister Habeck would be well advised to sharpen up at this point and adjust the basis for the levy."
SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken also sees Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) as having a duty.
He must "ensure that services from the gas levy do justice to the overall economic situation of the corporations," she told the newspaper.
The surcharge is intended to fairly distribute the burden of the higher cost of gas procurement.
"Corporations that earn more than good money in other sectors can and must help themselves," warned Esken.
Clear criticism also came from the Green Youth.
"The gas levy was the wrong way from the start," federal spokeswoman Sarah Lee-Heinrich told the "Spiegel".
“It cannot be that society should now bear the losses while many companies have made excess profits during this crisis.
You can't explain that to people who don't know how to get through the winter." The government must "focus on the well-being of the people and not the right to profits".
Twelve companies want to benefit from the gas surcharge
Gas customers are to pay the gas surcharge of a good 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour from October.
The money is intended to relieve companies that have to buy expensive gas elsewhere to fulfill their contracts because of the reduced deliveries from Russia.
The companies are to be compensated for 90 percent of the resulting additional costs from October.
This should prevent company bankruptcies and ultimately delivery failures.
Twelve companies have so far registered a claim to money from the levy.
The claims total around 34 billion euros;
a large part is accounted for by the ailing gas importers Uniper and Sefe (formerly Gazprom Germania).
However, there are also companies on the list that are not currently in economic difficulties.