Does the change in Reserve Bank’s jewellery loan rules encourage usury?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued new guidelines with strict conditions for re-pledging jewellery loans. According to the new rules, jewellery pledged with a bank can only be re-pledged after full repayment, and only on the following day.
Previously, the option to re-mortgage jewellery by paying only interest was highly beneficial for the poor and middle class. However, with the new requirement to pay the entire principal and interest before re-pledging, those who rely on jewellery loans from banks are facing severe financial difficulties.
Durairaj, a middle-class farmer from Kothamangalam village in Pudukkottai district, has expressed his frustration over this rule. He has pawned jewellery worth Rs. 5.50 lakh in two banks and now finds himself unable to retrieve it even after repaying the full amount. Though he earns an income from agriculture and livestock, Durairaj has long depended on jewellery loans for his children's education, medical expenses, farming, and his daughter's marriage. He says that this RBI announcement has come as a huge shock to him.
Like Durairaj, millions of people across the country are affected and are struggling with this change. Many believe that the RBI should immediately withdraw this order. If not, farmers, the poor, and the middle class will face great hardship, as they may be unable to withdraw large amounts and could even lose their jewellery pledged in banks.
This new rule is seen as an encouragement for usury. Poor families who have mortgaged their jewellery for education and medical needs are now being forced to borrow money from private lenders at extremely high interest rates just to recover their pledged jewellery.
As a result, there is a growing demand across the country for the RBI to reconsider this policy, which many believe promotes illegal money lending. The public expects the Central Government and the Reserve Bank to take immediate action and repeal these new guidelines, allowing banks to resume the old jewellery loan system.