Chandigarh, March 4 (IANS): Keeping a mobile phone while serving a prison term can be a costly proposition for prisoners in Haryana.

To check the misuse of mobile phones inside jails, authorities now have a newly passed law which states that any prisoner found with a mobile or any of its components like a SIM card, battery, charger or memory card will have to serve a term of minimum of two years after his term ends.

The new provision was brought in following an amendment in the Prisoners Act by the Haryana assembly Tuesday.

"If any prisoner in a jail in Haryana is found guilty of possessing, operating or using a wireless device or its components... or if a prisoner or any other person assists or abets or instigates the supply thereof, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of minimum two years which may be extended to three years or with fine, not exceeding Rs.25,000, or both," a spokesman, quoting the new law, said.

"The prisoner will undergo the sentence awarded on completion of the sentence he is undergoing," the law states.

Wireless communication devices, which are banned inside prisons, include mobile phones, Wi-Fi, personal computer, tablet computer, laptop, and palmtop.