Does not sound at all normal to me. Someone came to my door two weeks ago and said he needed  to check the cable line.  He said he had identification, but I would not let him in.

I called the regie the following day and they knew nothing about any cable lines needing to be checked in the building.

There are lots of scams.  Some of these types want to see what's in your apartment.  Then they wait until you're away and break in.

Generally, it's advisable to be prudent against scams.

Concerning the radio and TV tax, there is a general obligation to self-assess the fact that you have a TV and/or a radio at home (or in a company), even if you never watch the TV or listen to the radio. In such case a yearly tax is due.

You may find additional information on the website of Billag which is a semi-public company set up for collecting the tax: http://www.billag.ch/web/fr/home.html

Thank you both for your useful replies. Since he did not ask to come in and did inquire whether or not I had a TV/ radio I am hoping it was Billag and not a scam! But either way, thank you for sharing your information. 

Thanks for posting that about  Cablecom/Naxoo.  Our regie is pretty good about informing us about work, so I didn't let them in. 

I was at a friend's appartment a couple of weeks ago and someone from Sunrise  was going door-to-door.

Still, Bilag people don't need to come in to the apartment.  Every one has to pay the tv/internet/radio tax, except if you have written received written authorization excusing you.

Be careful, they have a LOT of things like that going on in this city!

I had two policeman dressed up as a civilians show up once in my apartment telling me that they needed to inspect my flat in order to see what parts of the flat were sucseptible to thieves breaking in.... well I didn't open the door and told them in my broken down french that I wanted to see proper identification (which they can falsify), and that I wouldn't let them in if they didn't have an order to come in.

They smiled and walked away c'est bon monsieur!!..... that same week I had several phone calls on my landline asking me if this was the embassy of the republic of Ghana!... my friend who speaks french fluently told me they didn't even have Geneva accent but french from paris accent!

Thank you everyone for your helpful hints. I ended up calling Billag who were very helpful and spoke English (thank you Per!) and it was them who had come yesterday. Thankfully it was them, since there are many scam artists at work. Either way they did not ask to come in the house, he had only an electronic keypad which recorded the survey questions he asked me. He also had a badge which in hindsight I should have inspected more closely. FYI incase Billag pays you a visit. They can also give you a reference number which I should have asked for.