A tax investigation into three well-known Hyderabad biryani chains has expanded into a nationwide inquiry involving thousands of restaurants across India. According to reports from ABP Live News, what began as a routine probe into suspected irregularities has reportedly grown into one of the largest alleged billing manipulations in India's food industry. The investigation centers on ₹70,000 crore in undeclared revenue that authorities believe was concealed through systematic billing manipulation.
Investigators conducted an unprecedented digital forensic examination, analyzing 60 terabytes of data from nearly 1.77 lakh restaurants nationwide. As reported by ABP Live News, officials used artificial intelligence tools and digital forensic methods to examine the billing system that restaurants rely on for customer invoices. The investigation revealed that across India, restaurants using this software allegedly wiped out bills worth more than ₹13,000 crore. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone, hidden sales exceeded ₹5,100 crore.
To verify their findings, officials conducted physical inspections at 40 restaurants and compared actual sales figures with digital records. According to ABP Live News, even in this limited sample, nearly ₹400 crore in sales appeared to be missing. The pattern was consistent enough to suggest that roughly one-fourth of total restaurant sales may have been concealed based on the data examined so far. In some cases, investigators found that restaurant owners didn't even delete transactions - instead, they simply reported lower earnings to tax authorities despite maintaining higher sales internally.
While discrepancies surfaced nationwide, Karnataka recorded the highest level of suspected evasion, followed by Telangana and Tamil Nadu. As reported by ABP Live News, the scope of the investigation spans restaurant sales totaling nearly ₹2.43 lakh crore over six years. The manipulation typically involved deleting cash transactions, which are harder to trace than digital payments, and in some cases, entire days or months of billing records were erased entirely.
To piece together the puzzle, officials worked from digital labs, using AI tools to cross-check billing data with GST registrations and publicly available business information. According to ABP Live News, what initially seemed like isolated irregularities in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam soon revealed something far larger. The investigation demonstrates how billing software designed to prevent theft was allegedly manipulated by restaurant owners to conceal substantial portions of their actual earnings from tax authorities.