A routine inspection of biryani restaurants in Hyderabad has unexpectedly exposed what officials now describe as one of the largest suspected tax evasion rackets in the country, with concealed sales estimated at nearly Rs 70,000 crore. What began as a local compliance check has expanded into a nationwide investigation spanning thousands of eateries and multiple states.

The probe was initiated after officers of the Income Tax Department noticed inconsistencies in the reported revenues of several popular biryani outlets in Hyderabad. Initial surveys revealed significant gaps between actual customer footfall and the turnover declared in tax filings. These discrepancies prompted a deeper forensic examination of billing practices used by the restaurants, reports said.

Investigators soon identified a commonly used restaurant billing software as a key link. The platform, which services over one and a half lakh restaurants across India, was found to allow post-transaction manipulation of billing data. Tax officials accessed backend records and began analysing nearly 60 terabytes of data covering six financial years. The exercise revealed a systematic pattern of deleting or altering bills after payments were received, effectively erasing large volumes of sales from official records before tax returns were filed.