Need help or advice on education scam/extortion in a med school here!

I’m a medical student at a private college (Anna medical college) affiliated with a public university (UTM, Mauritius), and what’s happening right now honestly feels like exploitation.
Our college suddenly announced a $500 per subject fine for students with attendance below 75%.

Sounds normal at first, except:
This was never clearly communicated before
There was no mention of any monetary penalty in official rules/handbooks
They dropped this bomb right before exams
When students pushed back, they temporarily backed off
Now that exams are done and we have zero leverage, they’ve brought the fines back again

So basically:
Introduce a rule late → scare students → wait till exams are over → enforce payment when students can’t risk consequences.
It’s hard not to see this as a deliberate pressure tactic to extract money.
Most of us wouldn’t even be arguing if this was a clear rule from the beginning. But enforcing something like this retrospectively, with no proper notice, and tying it to academics feels completely unfair.

We’re now stuck in a situation where not paying could potentially affect our progression, and paying feels like giving in to something that shouldn’t be happening in the first place.

So I wanted to ask:
Has anyone dealt with something like this?
Is this even enforceable if it wasn’t clearly communicated beforehand?
Would escalating this to the affiliated university or authorities actually help, or just make things worse?

What’s the smartest way to push back without risking our degrees?
Not trying to rant; just trying to figure out if this is something we should fight or just swallow and move on.
Appreciate any advice.
(Reframed via ChatGPT to make it clear-er)

TL;DR:
College introduced a $500/subject attendance fine without prior notice, backed off when students protested, then reimposed it after exams when we had no leverage. Feels like a retrospective cash grab. Looking for advice on whether this is enforceable and how to challenge it safely.