A CONTROVERSIAL television show, which offers cash prizes as part of a phone-in contest, is now the subject of 54 formal complaints with the broadcasting regulator.

PlayTV – which airs on TV3 – has been the subject of so much correspondence that a final decision on whether to take action against the programme has had to be postponed because of the sheer volume of complaints.

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) has said it wanted to give TV3 more time to prepare a response to all of the issues that have been raised so far.

Anne O'Brien of the BCC said it had now received 54 formal complaints and that another four were pending against the show.

A statement said: "Regarding those registered, 27 were resolved and therefore closed; 17 complaints are due for board consideration; and 10 are at correspondence stage.

"With regard to the assessment of complaints by the board, due to the volume of the material and also the number of complaints that were potentially pending board consideration for the same show, it was agreed that it would be procedurally better to assess as many of the complaints at the same meeting.

"Further, given the volume and the tight timeframe regarding a number of complaints, it was agreed that further consideration was required."

The delay in acting on the show came to light after one angry member of the public was told the complaint would not now be dealt with until the end of September.

The show has caused major controversy as dozens of viewers claim to have been misled by the competition rules.

The show operates by asking viewers to phone in to answer a question live on air. However, when the person gets through, they are then asked another quiz question.

Often, they will answer that question correctly but are then told they have not been lucky enough to be put through "this time". For their troubles, they are charged €1.65.

TV3 has said strict rules are in place to ensure that no viewer can make any more than 50 calls per night.

However, one caller to PlayTV said he had run up a large phone bill after phoning the show 185 times on a single evening.

His letter of complaint stated: "I was able to make 185 calls at €1.65 per call and ended up with a bill of €370. I contested this.

"I spoke to a guy who reassured me I could not make over 50 calls and would not be charged even if I could. I have been charged. I have not been able to get through to them [the company that runs the show] after leaving several messages and calling them, costing me a further €19."

Incredibly, despite calling the show more than 180 times, he was not able to get live-on-air even once to have a chance of actually winning a prize.