Chancellor George Osborne has been accused of being "a coward" by a Tory MP for sending his junior minister, Chloe Smith, to defend the fuel duty U-turn on the BBC's Newsnight.
Nadine Dorries, who has spoken out against Mr Osborne in the past, tweeted that Ms Smith "did not deserve that".
Ms Smith repeatedly refused to say on Newsnight when she was told of the decision to postpone the duty rise.
It is reported ministers were unaware of the move until shortly before.
The chancellor told MPs on Tuesday afternoon that a planned 3p-a-litre rise in August would be put back to January.
Road users' groups, the Sun newspaper, opposition parties and several Conservative MPs had been pushing for the change, amid concerns that prices at the pumps were squeezing living standards.
Last week Prime Minister David Cameron said the planned duty rise would be "looked at", but held out little hope for a delay, saying: "I think people sitting at home know that the government doesn't have a bottomless pit of money."
'Running commentary'But on Tuesday, the chancellor announced the postponement of the duty rise, saying: "We are on the side of working families and businesses and this will fuel our recovery at this very difficult economic time for the world."
The cost of not bringing in the rise in August is expected to be between £500m and £600m.
The Chancellor George Osborne: "This will fuel our recovery"
Speaking on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Ms Smith, economic secretary to the Treasury, was asked a number of times when she was told of the decision to postpone the rise.
She said: "As a minister in the Treasury I've been involved in discussions for some time. The chancellor and the prime minister take those decisions.
"I'm not going to be able to give you a running commentary on exactly who said what and when."
Ms Smith said the freeze would be funded by underspends in government departments but would not say from which ones.
"It is not possible to give you a full breakdown at this point because the figure is evolving somewhat," she said.
Ms Smith's appearance has attracted a large amount of comment on Twitter, with Labour MP Ben Bradshaw and former deputy leader Lord Prescott among those criticising Mr Osborne's decision not to appear himself.
Conservative MP Louise Mensch said: "Anybody can have a tough time with Paxman... while the bubble (Westminster) has a go over one TV appearance... she is well respected, excellent in the chamber as a minister".
Ms Dorries tweeted a series of comments, including one that said although she had not seen the interview, "... if Osborne sent Chloe on re scrapping 3p he is a coward as well as arrogant."
'Furious'In an interview with the Daily Telegraph on Monday Transport Secretary Justine Greening seemed unaware of the forthcoming change.
She said she supported the rise as part of the government's deficit-reduction plan and would instead challenge petrol companies to cut the cost of fuel.
She said: "The taxes that we get in fund the public services that we all rely on. Surely it's better to challenge the petrol retailers to pass on reductions to motorists, and actually I think that's probably the most important thing to do.
"I absolutely think that the Treasury need to deliver on their deficit reduction plan. You see what's happening in countries across Europe [and] I think you realise why having a credible deficit-reduction plan has been so important for this country, and we're certainly not going to move away from that," she added.
Some Tory MPs were said to be furious that they had been told to defend the government's decision not to delay the fuel rise until a few hours before it was reversed.
One told the BBC: "It was absolutely bloody stupid, treating us like idiots."
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