Providing utility bills as proof of address is standard practice around the world in any businesses that are required to Know Your Customer.
Just as flinging a stick with a strip of leather at a horse was standard practice for transportation at one point in time (i.e., a buggy whip)..
In this day when so many people are sharing residences to reduce spending, very few people as a percent of the population have their name show up on a utility bill. It might even be seen as one of the vestiges of a patriarchal social system. If a person has no credit and never has his or her name on a utility bill as a poor substitute for credit, that person has less power to participate in the economy. Statistically this affects more women than it does men.
So essentially it could be argued that this litmus test of having a utility bill in your name before you can engage in commerce is a form of discrimination (intentional or not) against women.
