The broadcaster admitted that viewers voting for contestants in the last series of the 'X Factor' have been charged an extra 15p for each vote, when voting through the BSkyB platform.
A miscalculation came to light as part of ITV's regular financial reporting process for interactive activity. It identified that incorrect payments were collected through red button applications on the platform during the last series of the 'X Factor'.
In the programmes broadcast between October 12 and December 16 2006, viewers had the opportunity to participate in the show through the red button in two ways: either by taking part in a prize competition, costing £1 an entry, or by voting in the show, costing 35p an entry.
Because of what ITV described as "a data inputting error" on the part of ITV, red button competition entrants had been charged 35p per entry instead of £1, an undercharge of 65p per entry. Red button voters were charged 50p a vote instead of 35p, an overcharge of 15p a vote.
Incorrect payments only affected red button activity on the Sky platform. Landline, mobile and text entries were unaffected.
The mistake came to light when the broadcaster received the latest red button revenue statement from Sky for the operation of last year's series of 'X Factor'. This statement showed a financial surplus of £200,000 had been awarded to ITV.
In rectifying the mistake, the broadcaster said it would repay the extra 15p collected from every vote, to any viewer affected who wished to claim it back.
In addition, ITV is making a donation of £200,000 to Childline, the NSPCC's 24-hour helpline for children.
The regulator noted that the breach had been admitted and, once recognised, immediate steps were taken by the information provider to remedy it. The information provider had approached Icstis of its own accord once the problem had been discovered, to give a full report of the irregularities and its proposed remedies.
In excusing the mistake the regulator noted that there had also been no financial gain from the breach, as the excess revenue obtained was to be donated to charity.
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