A fine of £150,000 is to be levied on the phone company involved in the Richard & Judy phone quiz scandal – but the broadcaster, Channel 4, and the producer, Cactus Television, face a further inquiry to learn whether they will be punished.

The 28-page judgment, seen by The Times, concludes that the You Say We Pay competition was “fundamentally misleading in that entries were solicited from viewers at a time when the shortlist of possible winners had already been chosen”.

Undertaken by Icstis, the premium-rate phone-line regulator, it will reveal that 47 per cent of people calling in this year had no chance of winning because a shortlist of potential winners was selected before the quiz had ended. You Say We Pay generated £3.08 million in revenue between 2005 and its suspension in February.

Eckoh, the company that handled the phone calls, is liable for the fine, but the amount was reduced because it had cooperated fully once the problems became public. It also escaped demands for a six-month ban, suspended for a year, on running other competitions.

You Say We Pay began shortly after Richard & Judy went on air at 5pm and ended at 5.38pm, with the winner selected at 5.42pm. On most days a shortlist of 24 possible winners was drawn up as early as 5.11pm, and sent by Eckoh to Cactus Television. Calls cost about 75p on average.

The judgment reveals the limitations of the regulatory process, which has taken five months to reach this stage. Icstis does not, except with the agreement of the broadcaster, have the power to fine Channel 4 or the programme producer.

Eckoh alleged that it was put under pressure by Cactus to pick winners early, and said that had it exposed the practice earlier, it might not have been taken seriously by either the production company or Channel 4. Both claims are “keenly contested” by Cactus and Channel 4, and will form part of a separate inquiry by Ofcom, the regulator.

Channel 4 remains at risk of a serious fine because of Ofcom’s investigation. Last month Five was fined £300,000 after it was found that the production company Endemol had faked phone-in winners on five occasions this year.

In the case of Richard & Judy the early selection of winners happened every day and dated back at least into last year.

Channel 4 is in the process of offering refunds to viewers. Eckoh declined to comment last night.

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