Bus passengers could be forgiven for confusion after Dublin Bus moved yesterday to revise fare rises introduced only last Monday. The U-turn comes soon after the withdrawal of an inaccurate advertisement on its original proposal, a mistake the firm blamed on human and technical error.

But hard-pressed passengers, who were also hit this week with a VAT increase in the Budget, could be excused for a dose of cynicism too. Dublin Bus would not have introduced the original increase if figures at the highest level in the company thought they would not get away with it. They haven't, of course. But the fact that they tried in the first place suggests a certain disregard for passengers.

The company said yesterday that the "starting points" used when calculating the first round of increases were not the fares they were charging up to last Sunday. Rather, it used as a starting point fares that would have applied if it had not rounded down fares to the nearest five cents when the euro was introduced last January.

The company said yesterday that the rounding down - which was forced on it by the then Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke - has already reduced revenues by €1.4 million. According to a Dublin Bus spokeswoman, the latest revision will cost "in the region of millions of euro" in lost revenue.

Yet bad as this is for the cash-strapped company, it is also a public relations disaster for a service which is already the butt of frequent criticism. Not forgetting the €500 million annual subvention from taxpayers, it would appear that political nous is in short supply at the company's office on O'Connell Street.

"Since the fare increases came into effect there has been considerable debate and discussion," said the company yesterday. "Dublin Bus has listened and taken notice of what has been said. As a result Dublin Bus is taking quick and positive action."

If this implied that the company was listening to its customers, the more realistic scenario is that it felt heat coming from the direction of one Séamus Brennan. The Minister has pledged to reform CIÉ and open the Dublin Bus business to competition. Whether the latest episode adds power to his punch remains to be seen, for there are strong signals of discontent from within the National Bus and Railworkers' Union.

We're not there yet, but we're getting there. Testing times ahead.