They don't police very consistently for the "requirement" to have the passport photo not be the same as the photo for the OCI. If the issue was that they they were getting years' old photos taken at the same time as years' old passports and that they wanted the OCI applicant's photo to have been taken within X days/months of application, they could have said that the applicant's photo should be less than _____ days/months old at time of application. But this is the GOI, so that isn't how it goes.

If your passport is less than a year old, maybe they are less fussy. Or maybe they are just less inconsistent (or is that more inconsistent? ) then.