link, yes, if a baptised JW does NOT turn in time on a slip of paper, they are not counted as a 'publisher' for that month. So indeed, it is true that there are more baptised JWs than the number of publishers reported. On the other hand, you can be counted a publisher and NOT be baptised JW. The WTBTS does not track # of baptised, they track people turning in field service slips.
Of course, miss reporting time for a month or more and the local elders will be all over you like white on rice. If they think you are a threat (may give you the "Do you feel the F&DS is god's channel on earth?" question as a loyalty test), they will DF you ASAP.
All that said, I can bet that the elders are leaning on these older people now, trying to get field service reports from them. Saying things like "Surely you talked to someone about Jehovah this month!?" Guilting them into reporting the new minimum required 15 minutes so that the # of publishers counted can be inflated. They may not have felt OK with reporting an hour, but most can be talked into reporting 15 mins.