I have traveled on the 01st of Jan 2016 on their Sleeper coach along with my wife.
The journey was a disaster from the word "start". We were not allowed to stow our luggage in the luggage compartment of the bus and instead were told to carry the luggage to our seats.
Had to lift my two travel bags and a carry bag upto my seat with absolutely no assistance from the cleaner/driver. Adding insult to injury were the smirks on their faces as they watched us struggle to climb the first step that was so highly placed.
Then came the obnoxious cleaner(Yashwant) who had the dirty habit of pulling aside the compartment curtain every 5 minutes with an excuse of "checking". Privacy was thrown to winds and I was not feeling safe.
Then came the final nightmare.This time it was the combination of the driver and the cleaner together to compound my troubles. The bus stopped(not a scheduled stop - I came to gather later) at Nagar(a common term used locally to indicate Ahmednagar). The driver stopped the vehicle for close to 25 minutes and for a moment I thought the bus had stopped for dinner quite early. It was only later when I parted the curtain I could see that the driver was surreptitiously ushering 8 passengers(3 ladies, 3 gents and 2 kids) to board the last compartment meant to accommodate only 4 passengers(4 sleeper berths).
When I asked what had happened, the driver was first taken aback(not realizing that someone was watching him), he smiled and said he was the driver, in a manner of trying to assure that he is the "official" of the bus. When I said I know who he is and was trying to find whats happening, he then assumed a stern tone and said he is helping passengers. I was not convinced and persisted asking if people are permitted to board the sleeper coach in between stops too?. He then assumed a more polite tone and said this his "side income" in the new year and that it is done in all SVR buses. I was not convinced and then I tried to raise an alert with the helpline number listed on their website(040-30102768) - they were polite and refused to take in a complaint stating that I need to raise it with my agency that booked the ticket. - Not really helpful.
At the dinner point the cleaner started his habits of peeping again into the compartments and this time this was really getting on to my nerves and when I questioned him he rudely stated he is authorized to "check". When I approached him closer I could smell that he was totally drunk. This time I really blew since I knew that this was definitely unsafe for travel. We had unidentified passengers in my next cabin and more than the number that the berths are available for.Then a totally drunk cleaner roaming freely in the bus.
I apprised my fellow travelers(who were trying to sleep - oblivious of what was happening) and some supportive travelers came out and confronted the driver while it had started. The driver realized that the things were spiraling out of control for him and he immediately started apologizing. We said the only way out is to stop the bus at a safe place and have the extra passengers deboard. Finally he stopped at a Police chowki at a little distance away and then we resumed out travel. Later he was trying to put on a condoning tone and was mumbling it was his bad day that he was "caught" whereas all the other buses that SVR was plying that night had pulled off this "extra income" stuff without trouble.
The fact that this episode lasted till about 11:45 pm in the night and thereafter I was unable to sleep knowing that there was a hostile staff manning the bus. I continued the journey being half awake to even the slightest noise outside my compartment and that I woke up really groggy the next morning when I deboarded made me feel how our lives are frequently being put at stake by such unscrupulous travel operators who make us travel at the mercy of illiterate and uncouth staff and how we seldom lack enough options to put them to task.
God forbid if something were to happen on this bus, due to such unsafe practices. I can only say that I lived out of one more nightmare that night and only god knows how these operators are given permits to ply their buses with no audits of their practices. With so many terror incidents being reported every day, this journey was one more event that made me think if we really care for safety.