What i believe is the reason more people are passing is because the reduction in cool off period to 3 months . Lot of candidates who appeared in jan/feb/march reappeared within a short time and with better preparations . Also the guys who flunked once earlier and did not wanted to give the exam due to the upfront payment of 375$ also appeared as the exam is for free and they to were relatively better prepared .
The company which makes a 6 billion dollar deal for 180 a/c why would it be interested in 20k of 30-40 odd candidates anyhow , doesn't make a lot of sense does it ?