The great billing heist: How powerful 'delete' software feature helped restaurants hide crores from tax net; invoice of Rs 2,784 'altered' to Rs 27
Times of India
by U SUDHAKAR REDDYFebruary 18, 2026
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A recent investigation has uncovered how a powerful "delete" feature in popular restaurant billing software was exploited to erase large portions of sales records, enabling restaurants to evade taxes on significant sums. Tax officials in India discovered that this bulk deletion function allowed establishments to remove up to 30 days' worth of bills at once, potentially erasing millions in taxable revenue. For instance, a vegetarian tiffin outlet in Hyderabad was found to have suppressed nearly ₹60 crore over five years, while another non-vegetarian restaurant allegedly avoided paying taxes on ₹20 crore during the same period.
The software's built-in tools for bill modification and deletion were designed for legitimate purposes but were misused to drastically reduce reported sales. Investigators identified four key mechanisms: individual bill deletion to remove high-value invoices, bulk deletions over specific date ranges, post-generation modifications where invoices were altered (such as changing an invoice from Rs 2,784 to Rs 27), and reconstruction of actual turnover by combining deleted and modified bills with declared sales. These methods allowed restaurants to artificially lower their reported income, often by 20-30% or more.
The nationwide probe, which expanded to hundreds of eateries, revealed widespread tax evasion across the industry. In Hyderabad alone, over 416 cases showed suppressed turnover exceeding ₹1 crore, with some instances showing suppression levels 12 times higher than declared figures. Investigators used forensic analysis and AI tools to detect suspicious patterns, such as bulk deletions or significant modifications made days or months after the original transaction. This crackdown
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Originally published on Times of India on 2/18/2026