New Delhi: A massive nationwide tax evasion scandal worth Rs 700 billion has been uncovered in India during a major crackdown by the Income Tax Department. The scandal is being dubbed the “Biryani Tax Scam.”
According to Kashmir24, the probe began with routine inspections at prominent biryani outlets in Hyderabad, including Pista House, Shah Ghouse and Mehfil. However, investigators soom realized that the scheme was far more extensive, involving a well-organised network of restaurants operating across India.
The breakthrough came after analysing 60 terabytes of transactional data from a pan-India billing software platform used by more than 100,000 restaurants. The software, which controls roughly 10% of the country’s restaurant billing market, provided access to billing records linked to 177,000 restaurant IDs across India. Investigators found that the system could delete up to 30 days of complete sales records with a single click.