The increase caused howls of outrage not only from ordinary citizens but also from the Mayor, Edward I. Koch, who called for a consumer boycott to force a price rollback.

The programs offer consumers an instant price rollback at the pump of anywhere between 3 cents and 10 cents off per gallon of fuel purchased.

But he continued, "What we can't agree to is price rollbacks that will impact on the quality of care."

The F.C.C. had planned to impose tough new cable rate regulations on June 21 that were expected to produce the price rollbacks nationwide.

Wal-Mart's 200,000-square-foot stores, brightly lighted, minimally decorated and teeming with signs for price rollbacks, have served the chain well for much of the last 40 years.

Still, the price rollbacks did come after the Florida attorney general's office issued subpoenas on Aug. 26 seeking pricing information from nine plywood suppliers including Georgia-Pacific and Louisiana-Pacific.

The bottom line: price rollbacks would result.

During the price rollback, the restaurant will offer barbecued ribs for $10.95, beef ribs for $9.59 and a combination of baby back ribs and chicken for $9.95.

The cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. and the regional telephone company Bell Atlantic cited the price rollback as a reason for scuttling their planned merger.

In 1990, Nynex settled charges with the F.C.C. by agreeing to pay $1.4 million and accepting a one-year price rollback.