Paying bills in Austria

Electricity bills are paid monthly by direct debit. Oil heating paid via direct debit monthly. Service charge on the property usually includes this. Austrians prefer monthly debit payments. If you receive a bill for a full amount, you are expected to pay it by giro transfer within 2 weeks, no prisoners taken! Does not quite work in reverse if your  company has billed another and await payment in 2 weeks. Usually hold out for as long as possible. Be aware though that private accounts are expected to be settled in 2 weeks latest!
Online banking is one way to pay your bills, or simply going to the specialist hole in the wall (usually within the branch itself - remembering of course the banks close for up to 3 hours at lunch time!) machine which will read the giro slip automatically, and you only need to fill in small details.