Once a year the reader comes by and once a year we get a bill. Many old apartments still have inside metering (which is even perfectly legal for new work) so the occupants have to be home for the reading. Each house has a black board near the front door and a few weeks prior to the reading date they write the reading date with chalk, telling the customers to be home between 8 and 11 AM.
People who don't trust banks even have the anachronistic possibility of paying cash. Roughly 6 months after the reading the gas/electricity man goes through and collects the money for the previous billing period.
