International oil prices have been plummeting for some time now, but that hasn't exactly translated into significantly cheaper fuel in India. This is because the Union government has adopted the approach of steadily raising excise duty on petrol and diesel to increase its revenue, thus nullifying the effect of cheaper oil. As a result, the benefit of dropping oil prices has not been passed on to the consumer.

On Monday, already peeved consumers were given a fresh cause for complaint.

Over the past fortnight, the price of oil has fallen by $4 a barrel. In keeping with that trend, the scheduled fuel price revision should have seen prices cut by at least Re 1 per litre for both petrol and diesel. But for the third time in a month, the government on Sunday decide to raise excise duty on the eve of the fortnightly fuel price revision, due on Monday.

In the end, the price of petrol was reduced by 4 paise per litre for petrol and 3 paise per litre for diesel. The measly price cut invited plenty of criticism on social media, as users wondered what they would do with all the money they stood to save.

Here's a selection:

'Slashed' is too strong a word for 4 paise. Scratched? Nibbled? Gently gnawed at by a toothless old man? https://t.co/rfuIhv01EZ — Ashish Shakya (@stupidusmaximus) February 1, 2016

AcheDin finally came by @narendramodi keep the 4 paise for your foreign trip. https://t.co/jzbvnhIGuD — Joheb Ghori (ذوہیب) (@Joheb22) February 1, 2016

To the world we are saying that we will be trillion dollar economy & in house we r slashing pricess in "Paise" #bolbacchan #BJP #Senseless — Akshay Jain (@aksrock) February 1, 2016

Wow a 4 paise drop in petrol price!

Now need to make a budget on what I can buy with 16 paise that I save in a month https://t.co/mYXRjO0HE6 — Sumanth Raghavendra (@sumanthr) February 1, 2016

Read the Sarcasm Govt: You have been SO KIND to us; crude reduces by $4/barrel, fuel bill reduces by 4 paisa/litre. https://t.co/S2w4cSMgaa — Mihir Mishra (@mihirmishraET) February 1, 2016

@xtahzy @SpaceCrazy @Marc__Me @airnewsalerts The meaning of 'slash' doesnt go with the 4 paise cut!! They must b consulting the dictionay😄😂😂 — Padre (@padre9rr) February 1, 2016

Jerry - why did you buy 1000 litres of petrol?

Kramer - I wasn't getting any profit with 5 litres. That's like 20 paise. Now it's 40 bucks! — Aayush (@slicesofIife) February 1, 2016

Okay, first I thot this was a mistake, but looks like 4 & 3 paise is *really* the price drop. Rounding errors are now mainline 😞 — just shoot me (@_MrAlBundy) February 1, 2016