While investigating a biryani restaurant chain in Hyderabad, the Income Tax Department has uncovered a major tax evasion scam spread across the country. The department claims that from 2019-20 until now, biryani sales worth at least Rs 70,000 crore have been concealed. The Hyderabad investigation unit analyzed 60 terabytes of transaction data from a billing software used in approximately 1.77 lakh restaurants nationwide. According to officials, this software controls about 10% of the market share. The investigation utilized high-capacity systems and AI tools, including generative AI. Restaurants were identified through GST numbers and online public records. The investigation began in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, and surrounding cities. Later, as the case expanded, it was extended throughout the country. Data from 1.77 lakh restaurant IDs examined, post-billing deletion of Rs 13,317 crore found The investigation examined data linked to 1.77 lakh restaurant IDs. According to officials, out of the suppressed sales of Rs 70,000 crore, entries worth Rs 13,317 crore were deleted after bill generation. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone, cases of suppressed sales worth Rs 5,141 crore have come to light. The department has not yet completed calculating the tax and penalties on the suppressed income. Rs 400 crore discrepancy found in sample of 40 restaurants Physical and digital investigations were conducted on a sample of 40 restaurants in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This confirmed suppression of sales worth about Rs 400 crore. Based on the sample, officials have estimated that approximately 27% of total sales were suppressed. Major irregularities found in 5 states including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana Most cases of tax evasion were found in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Karnataka recorded deletion of approximately Rs 2,000 crore, followed by Telangana (Rs 1,500 crore) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 1,200 crore). Officials said that some restaurants did not even delete records and showed lower sales in tax returns. How the tax evasion game unfolded? According to investigating officers, restaurants typically record all payments received through cards, UPI and cash in their software to prevent staff from committing fraud. However, the investigation revealed that owners themselves were misusing the system. The most common method was to delete only cash bills, since cash transactions are difficult to track. The second method was to delete all bills of selected dates together. Investigation revealed that some restaurants deleted selected cash invoices. This means a portion of cash entries was kept and the rest was removed to show reduced income tax and GST liability. Sometimes data for up to 30 days was completely deleted. After this, only partial sales were shown in returns. Data of Rs 2.43 lakh crore billing, GST numbers mapped with AI Data of total billing worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore from six financial years 2019-20 to 2025-26 came under investigation. Officials accessed data from the center of an Ahmedabad-based software company. Its analysis was done at the Digital Forensics and Analytics Lab in Income Tax Building, Hyderabad. Investigation started from Hyderabad, now expanded nationwide Initially searches were conducted in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and other cities of Andhra Pradesh-Telangana. From there, the use of software to suppress sales was revealed. After this, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) decided to expand the investigation nationwide. Officials say the current revelations are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’. Many other billing platforms are operating in the food and beverage sector, which could be investigated similarly. Post navigation After Galgotias University, Wipro also showcases ‘dog robot’:Grok claims other big Indian IT companies also displayed similar robots during India AI Summit
